Skip Navigation


Chemical Senses Advance Access originally published online on December 21, 2007
Chemical Senses 2008 33(3):231-241; doi:10.1093/chemse/bjm082
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
33/3/231    most recent
bjm082v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Merigo, F.
Right arrow Articles by Sbarbati, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Merigo, F.
Right arrow Articles by Sbarbati, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Immunohistochemical Localization of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator and Clara Cell Secretory Protein in Taste Receptor Cells of Rat Circumvallate Papillae

Flavia Merigo1, Donatella Benati1, Mirco Galiè1, Caterina Crescimanno2, Francesco Osculati1 and Andrea Sbarbati1

1 Sezione di Anatomia Umana e Istologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Morfologico-Biomediche, Università di Verona, Verona, Italy 2 Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, Università Kore, Enna, Italy

Correspondence to be sent to: Flavia Merigo, Human Anatomy and Histology Section, Morphological-Biomedical Sciences Department, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 8, I-37134 Verona, Italy. e-mail: flavia.merigo{at}univr.it


  Abstract

Taste receptor cells (TRCs) are the sensory cells of taste transduction and are organized into taste buds embedded in the epithelium of the tongue, palate, pharynx, and larynx. Several studies have demonstrated that TRCs involved in sweet as well as bitter and umami responses express {alpha}-gustducin, an {alpha}-subunit of the G-protein complex. It has been further demonstrated that this typical taste protein is a potent marker of chemosensory cells located in several tissues, including gastric and pancreatic mucosa and the respiratory apparatus. We recently observed that {alpha}-gustducin and phospholipase C beta 2–immunoreactive cells were colocalized in the airways with cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) and Clara cell–specific secretory protein of 10 (CC10) and 26 kDa (CC26). This finding suggests that TRCs might themselves express secretory markers. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the expression of CFTR, CC10, and CC26 in rat circumvallate papillae using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction analysis, immunohistochemistry, and confocal laser microscopy. The results showed that secretory markers such as CFTR, CC10, and CC26 are present in taste cells of rat circumvallate papillae, and their immunoreactivity is expressed, to a different extent, in subsets of taste cells that express {alpha}-gustducin. The presence of CFTR, CC10, and CC26 in taste bud cells and their coexpression pattern with {alpha}-gustducin confirms and extends our previous findings in airway epithelium, lending further credence to the notion that chemoreception and secretion may be related processes.

Key words: {alpha}-gustducin, CFTR, chemoreception, Clara cell–specific secretory protein, immunohistochemistry, taste

Accepted 16 November 2007


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.