In mammals, taste buds are localized mostly within two regions, i.e. lingual and palatal epithelium. In the lingual epithelium, taste buds are localized in three lingual papillae; fungiform, foliate and circumvallate papillae. In the palatal epithelium, taste buds are present in the nasoincisor papillae and soft palate. In addition, few taste buds are recognized at the laryngeal surface of epig...

Although it has been long accepted that innervation by a taste nerve is essential for maintenance of taste buds, it is not clear what role, if any, innervation plays in the morphogenesis of taste papillae and taste bud development. The following study was undertaken to determine what effects lack of sensory innervation have on the development of taste papillae and the formation of taste buds in...

Taste buds and papillae in tongues of rhesus monkeys were examined and counted to determine if there are age-related differences in general morphology or numbers of receptor organs. Tongues from 15 monkeys in five groups aged 4-31 years were studied with light microscopy. Fungiform, circumvallate, and foliate papillae were examined and taste buds in each papilla type were counted. Numbers of pa...

BACKGROUND Taste buds located on the aryepiglottal folds and laryngeal surface of the epiglottis are the principal receptors responsible for the initiation of the laryngeal chemoreflex. In contrast to the wealth of information available concerning the ultrastructure of oral taste buds, little comparable data exists for taste buds located at the entrance to the larynx. Therefore, the present stu...

Taste buds are chemosensory structures widely distributed on the surface of the oral cavity and larynx. Taste cells, exposed to the oral environment, face great challenges in defense against potential pathogens. While immune cells, such as T-cells and macrophages, are rarely found in taste buds, high levels of expression of some immune-response-associated molecules are observed in taste buds. Y...

Epithelial tissues are characterized by specialized cell-cell junctions, typically localized to the apical regions of cells. These junctions are formed by interacting membrane proteins and by cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix components. Within the lingual epithelium, tight junctions join the apical tips of the gustatory sensory cells in taste buds. These junctions constitute a selective ba...

A Silastic nerve cuff containing colchicine (1% w/v) was placed around the combined lingualchorda tympani nerve of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) to evaluate the role of axonal transport in the maintenance of taste buds. After 3 days the summated gustatory impulse discharges recorded from the chorda tympani nerve were reduced by 60%, while compound action potentials had not change...

The number of basic taste qualities registered by single human fungiform papillae is correlated with the number of taste buds borne on these papillae. Multiple sensitivity was demonstrated both in single fungiform papillae and in single taste buds, with response to all four of the basic taste qualities occuring in a single taste bud.

It is known in mammals that regenerating taste fibers will reform, innervate and maintain new taste buds in characteristic tongue locations--the taste papillae. The ability of non-taste sensory and motor nerve fibers (auriculo-temporal, mylohyoid and hypoglossal nerves) to substitute for a taste (IXth) nerve was evaluated by whole nerve recording and anatomical examination of experimentally inn...

Cell-to-cell interactions and synaptic integration may occur within taste buds prior to signals being exported from these peripheral sensory organs to the CNS (Roper, 1992; Kaya et al., 2004). In principle, these interactions could include chemical and electrical synapses between taste cells and synapses from taste cells to sensory afferent fibers. Knowing which transmitters are released at syn...