title: Mice perceive synergistic umami mixtures as tasting sweet.
abstract: Previous electrophysiological investigation shows that combinations of compounds classified by humans as umami-tasting, such as glutamate salts and 5'-ribonucleotides, elicit synergistic responses in neurons throughout the rodent taste system and produce a pattern that resembles responses to sweet compounds. The current study tested the hypothesis that a synergistic mixture of monopotassium glutamate (MPG) and inositol monophosphate (IMP) possesses perceptual similarity to sucrose in mice. We estimated behavioral similarity among these tastants and the individual umami compounds using a series of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) tests, a procedure that measures whether a CTA formed to one stimulus generalizes to another. Our primary finding was that a CTA to a synergistic mixture of MPG + IMP generalizes to sucrose, and vice-versa. This indicates umami synergistic mixtures are perceived as having a sweet, or at least sucrose-like, taste to mice. Considering other recent studies, our data argue strongly in favor of multiple receptor mechanisms for umami detection, and complexity in taste perception models for rodents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 515, Memphis, TN 38163, USA lsaites@uthsc.edu.
authors.forename: Louis N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Saites
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 515, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Goldsmith
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 515, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Jaron
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Densky
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 515, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: Vivian A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 515, Memphis, TN 38163, USA.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Boughter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007295:Inositol Phosphates / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007295:Inositol Phosphates; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D013395:Sucrose
keywords: brief-access test; distributive model; labeled line theory; monosodium glutamate; perceptual discrimination; taste cell receptors
references.citation: J Food Sci. 2013 Aug;78(8):C1136-43
references.pmid: 23957398
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2009 Jul;34(6):487-98
references.pmid: 19423656
references.citation: Neuron. 2014 Mar 5;81(5):984-1000
references.pmid: 24607224
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2014 Sep 24;34(39):13234-45
references.pmid: 25253867
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2005 Jan;30 Suppl 1:i25-6
references.pmid: 15738140
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2000 Feb;3(2):113-9
references.pmid: 10649565
references.citation: J Nutr. 2000 Apr;130(4S Suppl):935S-41S
references.pmid: 10736356
references.citation: Learn Mem. 2001 Sep-Oct;8(5):272-8
references.pmid: 11584074
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2002 Feb;27(2):133-42
references.pmid: 11839611
references.citation: Nature. 2002 Mar 14;416(6877):199-202
references.pmid: 11894099
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Apr 2;99(7):4692-6
references.pmid: 11917125
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2002 May;27(4):375-82
references.pmid: 12006377
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2002 Jun;27(5):461-74
references.pmid: 12052783
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2003 Mar;28(3):261-6
references.pmid: 12714449
references.citation: Science. 2003 Aug 8;301(5634):850-3
references.pmid: 12869700
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2004 Nov;29(9):789-95
references.pmid: 15574814
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2003 Sep;28(7):631-41
references.pmid: 14578125
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2003 Dec 12;312(2):500-6
references.pmid: 14637165
references.citation: Cell. 2003 Oct 31;115(3):255-66
references.pmid: 14636554
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2004 Sep 1;24(35):7674-80
references.pmid: 15342734
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2004 Oct;29(8):721-9
references.pmid: 15466818
references.citation: Jpn J Physiol. 1970 Aug;20(4):444-64
references.pmid: 5312071
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 1976 Jan;2(1):17-27
references.pmid: 1249524
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1985 Jun;53(6):1370-86
references.pmid: 4009224
references.citation: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1987 Summer;11(2):187-96
references.pmid: 3614785
references.citation: Comp Biochem Physiol A Comp Physiol. 1989;92(3):365-70
references.pmid: 2565787
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1991 May;49(5):833-41
references.pmid: 1679557
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1991 May;49(5):919-25
references.pmid: 1653433
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1991 May;49(5):935-41
references.pmid: 1886951
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1991 May;49(5):965-71
references.pmid: 1653436
references.citation: Comp Biochem Physiol A Comp Physiol. 1992;101(1):97-102
references.pmid: 1347736
references.citation: Chem Senses. 1994 Oct;19(5):425-31
references.pmid: 7881974
references.citation: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 1995 Sep;64(2):125-32
references.pmid: 7582820
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Jul;1170:41-5
references.pmid: 19686105
references.citation: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Jul;1170:55-9
references.pmid: 19686108
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Sep;90(3):738S-742S
references.pmid: 19571230
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2009 Oct 19;98(4):481-8
references.pmid: 19666040
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2009 Nov;34(9):809-18
references.pmid: 19797341
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Mar 29;108(13):5431-6
references.pmid: 21383163
references.citation: Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2011 Dec;301(6):R1635-47
references.pmid: 21975648
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2012 Feb 1;105(3):709-19
references.pmid: 22008743
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2012 Jan 4;32(1):322-30
references.pmid: 22219293
references.citation: J Physiol. 2012 Mar 1;590(5):1155-70
references.pmid: 22183726
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2012 Mar;107(6):1545-55
references.pmid: 22170968
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2012 Oct;108(8):2179-90
references.pmid: 22832571
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013 Aug 23;438(2):334-9
references.pmid: 23892037
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1996 Jun 15;16(12):3817-26
references.pmid: 8656276
references.citation: Am J Physiol. 1997 Apr;272(4 Pt 2):R1210-8
references.pmid: 9140022
references.citation: Neurosci Lett. 1999 Feb 12;261(1-2):109-12
references.pmid: 10081939
references.citation: Chem Senses. 1999 Aug;24(4):449-57
references.pmid: 10480681
references.citation: Behav Neurosci. 2005 Aug;119(4):983-1003
references.pmid: 16187827
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2006 Feb 22;26(8):2227-34
references.pmid: 16495449
references.citation: Chem Senses. 2006 May;31(4):351-7
references.pmid: 16495435
references.citation: Nature. 2006 Nov 16;444(7117):288-94
references.pmid: 17108952
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2007 Oct 17;27(42):11242-53
references.pmid: 17942718
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 2008 Mar 18;93(4-5):757-65
references.pmid: 18174110
references.citation: Biol Pharm Bull. 2008 Oct;31(10):1833-7
references.pmid: 18827337
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Dec 30;105(52):20930-4
references.pmid: 19104071
references.citation: J Physiol. 2013 Apr 1;591(7):1967-85
references.pmid: 23339178