MSGID: 1:317/3 64a3a07b   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    New role for taste receptors    
    Bitter taste receptors could serve as endogenous sensors for bile acids   
      
      
     Date:   
         July 3, 2023   
     Source:   
         Leibniz-Institut fu"r Lebensmittel-Systembiologie an der TU Mu"nchen   
     Summary:   
         Taste receptors for bitter substances are not only found on the   
         tongue but also on cells outside the oral cavity. As a new study   
         now shows, extraoral bitter taste receptors could also serve as   
         endogenous sensors for bile acids. This discovery suggests that,   
         in addition to food components, endogenous substances may have   
         influenced the evolution of bitter taste receptors. Furthermore, the   
         study provides new approaches to explore the health effects of food   
         constituents in which extraoral bitter taste receptors are involved.   
      
      
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   Taste receptors for bitter substances are not only found on the tongue   
   but also on cells outside the oral cavity. As a new study by the Leibniz   
   Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich   
   now shows, extraoral bitter taste receptors could also serve as endogenous   
   sensors for bile acids.   
      
   This discovery suggests that, in addition to food components, endogenous   
   substances may have influenced the evolution of bitter taste receptors.   
      
   Furthermore, the study provides new approaches to explore the health   
   effects of food constituents in which extraoral bitter taste receptors   
   are involved.   
      
   As taste sensors, bitter taste receptors serve to detect and avoid   
   potential toxins in food. Relatively recent findings also indicate   
   that bitter taste receptors are also found on cells of the lung, brain,   
   and gastrointestinal tract, and on blood and sperm cells. A fact that   
   suggests further, less well- studied receptor functions in the body,   
   especially since the human body also produces bitter substances itself.   
      
   Based on these findings, the question arises whether bitter taste   
   receptors evolved primarily as taste receptors or rather as endogenous   
   sensors interacting with endogenous bitter substances. The latter,   
   of course, would require that concentrations of endogenous substances   
   in the corresponding body fluids be sufficient to activate endogenous   
   bitter taste receptors on extraoral tissues and cells.   
      
   Bile acids are endogenous bitter substances Bile acids are a good   
   example of endogenous bitter substances and are present in various body   
   fluids. Therefore, a team led by Maik Behrens from the Leibniz Institute   
   in Freising, Germany, investigated which of the approximately 25 human   
   bitter taste receptor types respond to physiologically relevant bile   
   acid concentrations. For this purpose, the team used an established   
   cellular test system and combined functional experiments with molecular   
   modeling approaches.   
      
   The eight bile acids tested included primary, secondary, tertiary,   
   and conjugated bile acids.   
      
   As the team shows, five bitter taste receptor types respond to the bile   
   acids tested. "In this context, the measured activation thresholds of the   
   receptors matched very well the bile acid concentrations reported for   
   human body fluids in the literature," says Florian Ziegler, a doctoral   
   student at the Leibniz Institute who contributed significantly to the   
   study. "Moreover, we were not only able to characterize the binding   
   of bile acids to the bitter taste receptor TAS2R1 by modeling studies   
   but even reproduced the differences of experimental activity data,"   
   adds Antonella Di Pizio, who heads the Molecular Modeling group at the   
   Leibniz Institute.   
      
   Bile acids activate extraoral bitter taste receptors "Our results suggest   
   that there is indeed a physiological relationship between bile acids   
   and certain extraoral bitter taste receptors and that the latter act as   
   endogenous sensors of bile acid levels. They also support the hypothesis   
   that not only external factors such as bitter food constituents have   
   influenced the evolution of bitter taste receptors, but also endogenous   
   ones," summarizes principal investigator Maik Behrens. However, further   
   studies are urgently needed to clarify the exact biological functions   
   of the extraoral receptors, the biologist continues. He adds: "Gaining a   
   deeper understanding of these functions could provide valuable insights   
   into the potential health effects of food components when they interact   
   with the extraoral bitter taste receptor ligand systems."   
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   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   Leibniz-Institut_fu"r_Lebensmittel-Systembiologie_an_der   
   TU_Mu"nchen. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Florian Ziegler, Alexandra Steuer, Antonella Di Pizio, Maik Behrens.   
      
         Physiological activation of human and mouse bitter taste   
         receptors by bile acids. Communications Biology, 2023; 6 (1) DOI:   
         10.1038/s42003-023- 04971-3   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230703133115.htm   
      
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