Lang T, Pizio AD, Risso D, Drayna D, Behrens M. Activation Profile of Tas2r2, The 26th Human Bitter Taste Receptor.
Mol Nutr Food Res 2023:e2200775. [PMID:
36929150 DOI:
10.1002/mnfr.202200775]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
SCOPE
To avoid ingestion of potentially harmful substances humans are equipped with about 25 bitter taste receptor genes (TAS2R) expressed in oral taste cells. Humans exhibit considerable variances in their bitter tasting abilities, which are associated with genetic polymorphisms in bitter taste receptor genes. One of these variant receptor genes, TAS2R2, was initially believed to represent a pseudogene. However, TAS2R2 exists in a putative functional variant within some populations and can therefore be considered as an additional functional bitter taste receptor.
METHODS AND RESULTS
To learn more about the function of the experimentally neglected TAS2R2, we performed a functional screening with 122 bitter compounds. We observed responses with 8 of the 122 bitter substances and identified the substance phenylbutazone as a unique activator of TAS2R2 among the family of TAS2Rs, thus filling one more gap in the array of cognate bitter substances.
CONCLUSIONS
The comprehensive characterization of the receptive range of TAS2R2 allowed the classification into the group of TAS2Rs with a medium number of bitter agonists. The variability of bitter taste and its potential influence on food choice in some human populations might be even higher than assumed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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