Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, have identified taste receptors in the human intestines, according to a study published online Aug. 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The taste receptor T1R3 and the taste G protein gustducin are critical to sweet taste in the tongue. The study findings show that these two sweet-sensing proteins also are expressed in specialized taste cells of the gut, where they sense glucose within the intestine.
"We now know that the receptors that sense sugar and artificial sweeteners are not limited to the tongue," said Robert F. Margolskee, MD, PhD, professor of neuroscience and the lead author.
‘"Our work is an important advance for the new field of gastrointestinal chemosensation—how the cells of the gut detect and respond to sugars and other nutrients," Dr. Margolskee said.
"Cells of the gut taste glucose through the same mechanisms used by taste cells of the tongue," said Dr. Margolskee. "The gut taste cells regulate secretion of insulin and hormones that regulate appetite."
Carbohydrate ingested from food and beverages breaks down into glucose, which stimulates the sweet-sensing proteins in these gut taste cells. Activating the sweet-sensing proteins of the gut taste cells promotes secretion of glucagonlike peptide-1, an intestinal hormone that plays a key role in promoting insulin secretion and regulating appetite.
The study findings may lead to new treatments for obesity and diabetes.
Dr. Margolskee has a financial interest in Redpoint Bio, Ewing, N.J., a biotechnology firm that identifies and develops compounds to improve the taste of pharmaceutical, food and beverage products. A coauthor is the inventor of the intestinal glucose sensor, which is protected by a patent.
This research was supported by funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health.
