Quantitative analysis of taste bud cell numbers in fungiform and soft palate taste buds of mice.
Mammalian taste bud cells (TBCs) consist of several cell types equipped with different taste receptor molecules, and hence the ratio of cell types in a taste bud constitutes the taste responses of the taste bud. Here we show that the population of immunohistochemically identified cell types per taste bud is proportional to the number of total TBCs in the taste bud or the area of the taste bud in fungiform papillae, and that the proportions differ among cell types. This result is applicable to soft palate taste buds. However, the density of almost all cell types, the population of cell types divided by the area of the respective taste buds, is significantly higher in soft palates. These results suggest that the turnover of TBCs is regulated to keep the ratio of each cell type constant, and that taste responsiveness is different between fungiform and soft palate taste buds.
Kyushu Institute of Technology, Hibikino 2-4, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu 808-0196, Japan. yoshii@brain.kyutech.ac.jp
Yoshitaka
Y
Ohtubo
Kiyonori
K
Yoshii
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D053496:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D016014:Linear Models; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D054799:Phospholipase C beta / Q000378:metabolism; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D050825:Synaptosomal-Associated Protein 25 / Q000378:metabolism; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013650:Taste Buds / Q000166:cytology*; D015293:Transducin / Q000378:metabolism
D053496:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors; C494209:Snap25 protein, mouse; D050825:Synaptosomal-Associated Protein 25; C075192:gustducin; D054799:Phospholipase C beta; C518040:Plcb3 protein, mouse; D015293:Transducin