Sour ageusia in two individuals implicates ion channels of the ASIC and PKD families in human sour taste perception at the anterior tongue.

Authors

Taufiqul Huque, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA
Beverly J Cowart, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA; The Monell-Jefferson Taste and Smell Clinic, Department of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PAFollow
Luba Dankulich-Nagrudny, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA
Edmund A Pribitkin, The Monell-Jefferson Taste and Smell Clinic, Department of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PAFollow
Douglas L Bayley, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PAFollow
Andrew I Spielman, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NYFollow
Roy S Feldman, Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Scott A Mackler, Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA; Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Joseph G Brand, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA; School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PAFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2009

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed and is published in PLoS One 2009, 4(10). The published version is available at DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007347. © Public Library of Science

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The perception of sour taste in humans is incompletely understood at the receptor cell level. We report here on two patients with an acquired sour ageusia. Each patient was unresponsive to sour stimuli, but both showed normal responses to bitter, sweet, and salty stimuli.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: Lingual fungiform papillae, containing taste cells, were obtained by biopsy from the two patients, and from three sour-normal individuals, and analyzed by RT-PCR. The following transcripts were undetectable in the patients, even after 50 cycles of amplification, but readily detectable in the sour-normal subjects: acid sensing ion channels (ASICs) 1a, 1beta, 2a, 2b, and 3; and polycystic kidney disease (PKD) channels PKD1L3 and PKD2L1. Patients and sour-normals expressed the taste-related phospholipase C-beta2, the delta-subunit of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and the bitter receptor T2R14, as well as beta-actin. Genomic analysis of one patient, using buccal tissue, did not show absence of the genes for ASIC1a and PKD2L1. Immunohistochemistry of fungiform papillae from sour-normal subjects revealed labeling of taste bud cells by antibodies to ASICs 1a and 1beta, PKD2L1, phospholipase C-beta2, and delta-ENaC. An antibody to PKD1L3 labeled tissue outside taste bud cells.

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest a role for ASICs and PKDs in human sour perception. This is the first report of sour ageusia in humans, and the very existence of such individuals ("natural knockouts") suggests a cell lineage for sour that is independent of the other taste modalities.

Recommended Citation

Huque, Taufiqul; Cowart, Beverly J; Dankulich-Nagrudny, Luba; Pribitkin, Edmund A; Bayley, Douglas L; Spielman, Andrew I; Feldman, Roy S; Mackler, Scott A; and Brand, Joseph G, "Sour ageusia in two individuals implicates ion channels of the ASIC and PKD families in human sour taste perception at the anterior tongue." (2009). Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers. Paper 16.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/otofp/16

PubMed ID

19812697