title: Sweet-bitter and umami-bitter taste interactions in single parabrachial neurons in C57BL/6J mice.
abstract: We investigated sweet-bitter and umami-bitter mixture taste interactions by presenting sucrose or umami stimuli mixed with quinine hydrochloride (QHCl) while recording single-unit activity of neurons in the parabrachial nucleus (PbN) of urethane-anesthetized C57BL/6J mice. A total of 70 taste-responsive neurons were classified according to which stimulus evoked the greatest net response (36 sucrose-best, 19 NaCl-best, 6 citric acid-best, and 9 QHCl-best). Although no neurons responded best to monopotassium glutamate (MPG) or inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP), the combination of these two stimuli evoked a synergistic response (i.e., response > 120% of the sum of the component responses) in all sucrose-best and some NaCl-best neurons (n = 43). Adding QHCl to sucrose or MPG + IMP resulted in suppression of the response (responses to mixture < responses to the more effective component) in 41 of 43 synergistic neurons. Neurons showing QHCl suppression were classified into two types: an "MS1" type (n = 27) with suppressed responses both to sucrose and MPG + IMP and an "MS2" type (n = 14) that showed suppressed responses only to sucrose. No neuron displayed suppressed responses to MPG or IMP alone. The suppression ratio (1 - mixture response/sucrose or MPG + IMP response) of sucrose and MPG + IMP in MS1 neurons had a weak positive correlation (r = 0.36). The pattern of reconstructed recording sites of neuron types suggested chemotopic organization in the PbN. Although a peripheral basis for QHCl suppression has been demonstrated, our results suggest that convergence in the PbN plays a role in shaping responses to taste mixtures.
authors: Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Univ. of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors: Kenichi
authors: K
authors: Tokita
authors: John D
authors: JD
authors: Boughter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005971:Glutamates; D007291:Inosine Monophosphate; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D011803:Quinine; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013395:Sucrose; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005971:Glutamates; D007291:Inosine Monophosphate; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013395:Sucrose; D011803:Quinine