Neutrophils play an important role in the initiation of innate immunity against infection and injury. Although many different types of G-protein coupled receptors are functionally expressed in neutrophils, no reports have demonstrated functional expression of umami taste receptor in these cells. We observed that mouse neutrophils express the umami taste receptor T1R1/T1R3 through RNA sequencing...

Junctional resistance between coupled receptor cells in Necturus taste buds was estimated by modeling the results from single patch pipette voltage clamp studies on lingual slices. The membrane capacitance and input resistance of coupled taste receptor cells were measured to monitor electrical coupling and the results compared with those calculated by a simple model of electrically coupled tast...

Sodium intake is important to maintain proper osmolarity and volume of extracellular fluid in vertebrates. The ability to find sources of sodium ions for managing electrolyte homeostasis relies on the activity of the taste system to sense salt. Several studies have been performed to understand the mechanisms underlying Na+ reception in taste cells, the peripheral detectors for food chemicals. I...

We used a 2 x 2 factorial design to dissociate regions responding to taste intensity and taste affective valence. Two intensities each of a pleasant and unpleasant taste were presented to subjects during event-related fMRI scanning. The cerebellum, pons, middle insula, and amygdala responded to intensity irrespective of valence. In contrast, valence-specific responses were observed in anterior ...

Sensitivity to the bitter taste of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) is an inherited trait. Although some people find PROP to be extremely bitter, others cannot distinguish PROP solutions from plain water. In a series of studies, greater PROP sensitivity was linked with lower acceptability of other bitter compounds and with lower reported liking for some bitter foods. Women, identified as "super-tast...

Taste preferences were studied in two groups of rats depleted of vitamin A by dietary restriction. One group received sufficient vitamin A acid supplement to maintain normal growth. The other group was repleted with vitamin A alcohol after the classical deficiency symptoms had appeared; this group gradually lost normal preferences for NaCl and aversion to quinine solutions during depletion. Vit...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Understanding customer satisfaction is critical to the successful operation of both privately and publicly managed recreation venues. A popular tool for assessing recreation visitor satisfaction is ImportancePerformance Analysis (IPA). IPA provides resource managers, government officials, and private businesses with easy-to-understand and -use information about visitor prefer...

Reading has been the passion of the greatest personalities of all times. Humans have been reading since ages and thus words of knowledge have been passed on through generations. The reading habit influences in the promotion of one's personal development in particular and social progress in general. Regular and systematic reading sharpens the intellect, refines the emotions, elevates tastes and ...

The memory mechanisms of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) were examined using electrophysiological methods. Presentation of the aversive taste to CTA trained animals inhibited unit activity in gustatory cortex, amygdala and ventromedial hypothalamus and caused delayed excitation of neurons in lateral hypothalamus. Lick-triggered rewarding stimulation of medial forebrain bundle substituted the t...

Taste-modifying proteins are a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners and flavor enhancers and have been used in some cultures for centuries. The taste-modifying protein, miraculin, has the unusual property of being able to modify a sour taste into a sweet taste. Here, we report the use of a plant expression system for the production of miraculin. A synthetic gene encoding miraculin was p...