IBN-9724062 PI: Herness Taste buds in the mouth of mammals each contain around 50 taste receptor cells. When they respond to certain tastes, their signal is transmitted to nerve fibers that carry taste information to the brain. Information about taste is processed not only within each individual cell, but there is likely to be processing within the taste bud itself if activity in a given receptor cell is modulated by activity of its neighbors. For example, an important molecule in the digestive system is the gut peptide cholecystokinin (CCK), and recently it also has been found localized in taste cells, and it affects their membrane channels that carry ionic currents during cellular stimulation. CCK has important physiological effects on secretion and neurotransmission in the brain as well as in the gut. This project uses immunocytochemistry and cellular electrophysiology to determine the localization, regulation, and possible physiological role of CCK in taste cells, to see how it might have a role in modulating peripheral information processing in taste. Results of this work will be important beyond simply understanding cellular mechanisms in the taste bud, because the potential impact extends to studies of human nutrition and to studies on the modulatory effects of CCK in other sites in the nervous system.
