昆虫味觉感受机制研究进展

很多昆虫具有极其灵敏的味觉感受系统, 在其取食选择、 交配和产卵等过程中起重要作用。相对于昆虫的嗅觉机制, 对昆虫味觉感受机制的研究较少。传统的味觉感受研究主要集中在味觉感器外部形态、 味觉电生理和行为学上。近年来随着分子遗传学、 生物信息学和神经生物学技术的应用, 昆虫味觉的研究不断深入, 主要体现在下列两方面： （1）味觉受体方面, 通过分子生物信息学等手段获得了多种昆虫的味觉受体, 不同种昆虫之间受体数目差异较大, 不同受体之间氨基酸的相似性较低。通常, 根据味觉受体配体物质的性质可以把味觉受体分为取食抑制素受体和取食刺激素受体两大类。（2）味觉神经元的投射及味觉编码机制方面, 多个研究表明昆虫外围味觉神经元在中枢神经系统中的投射部位为咽下神经节和后脑, 但是不同性质的受体神经元投射的具体位置有所不同。本文对昆虫味觉感器和神经元的基本特征, 味觉受体的进化、 表达和功能, 味觉神经元在中枢神经系统中的投射, 味觉神经元的编码机制及味觉可塑性等进行了综述。     

哺乳动物味觉感受机制研究进展

味觉系统对于食品风味、营养和毒害的"主动认知"对保证哺乳动物生存具有积极意义。哺乳动物具有甜、鲜、苦、咸、酸五类基本味觉。近年来,随着微电子技术及分子生物学等学科的快速发展,人类对味觉系统的研究取得了较大的进展。呈味分子与味觉感受器上的受体结合后,引起味觉细胞去极化和神经递质的释放,神经纤维接收递质并将产生的神经信号传达到脑的味觉感受区,完成味觉识别过程。本文对味觉系统中味觉感受器的组成、味觉受体介导的信号途径以及味觉信息的神经传导过程进行了系统的论述。     

味觉刺激后瘦素及其受体表达的变化

目的 :研究经口腔味觉刺激后 ,大鼠血清瘦素水平和脑瘦素受体表达情况。方法 :给大鼠口腔味觉刺激 ,味觉刺激物包括 3mol/L蔗糖 ,5mmol/L糖精钠 ,0 .1mol/LNaCl,0 .0 1mol/LHCl,1mmol/L奎宁H2 SO4和 0 .1mol/L谷氨酸钠 ,采用大鼠瘦素放免试剂盒测定血清瘦素水平。应用免疫组织化学ABC法对大脑切片进行染色 ,一抗为特异性羊抗瘦素受体IgG。 结果 :与对照组 (以蒸馏水代替味觉刺激物 )相比 ,仅甜味组 (包括蔗糖和糖精钠 )血清瘦素水平升高 (P <0 .0 5 )。杏仁核、下丘脑、臂旁核和孤束核等与味觉和摄食明显相关的核团均存在瘦素受体免疫反应 (LR IR)阳性细胞 ,但是阳性细胞数目在味觉刺激组和对照组间无显著性差异。结论 :给大鼠甜味觉刺激后 ,血清瘦素水平升高。并且杏仁核这个在摄食的发动和引导中起重要作用的核团存在LR IR阳性细胞。这些结果提示瘦素可能通过调节味觉感受而影响摄食 ,有必要对瘦素在味觉感受方面的作用进一步研究     

CD36与脂类味觉感受

CD36是一种脂类结合蛋白,在大鼠和小鼠的舌上皮细胞中均被发现,与长链脂肪酸（LCFA）具有高度亲和力,是啮齿类动物感受脂类的重要因子之一。研究表明这种蛋白质受体在口腔的脂类感受中起着至关重要的作用。CD36位于啮齿类口腔味蕾部分神经感受细胞的顶端部分,任轮廓状乳头中有特别高的表达,在叶状乳头中有少量表达,而在菌状乳头中几乎没有表达。     

味觉受体第一家族与味觉识别

哺乳动物味觉受体第一家族(taste receptor family 1 member,T1R)的发现提供了甜味与鲜味(氨基酸味)味觉识别与味觉概念一个重要的新视野。T1R包括T1R1、T1R2、T1R3三个成员。这些受体属于G蛋白偶联受体家族第3亚型,其中T1R2 T1R3以异二聚体形式共表达并参与甜味识别,而T1R1 T1R3也以异二聚体形式共表达并参与鲜味(氨基酸味)识别。对T1R的系列研究证明了味细胞对甜味和鲜味(氨基酸味)的选择性识别及其外周味觉编码的逻辑性。     

哺乳动物味觉的细胞生物学

味觉对于生命具有重要作用,在一定程度上决定了动物对食物的选择。哺乳动物味觉识别主要依赖于舌味蕾中的味细胞,味蕾由50～100个极化的神经上皮细胞聚集而成。通过对味蕾细胞的分析显示,味蕾是一种精巧的单元结构。这篇文章综述了味蕾细胞的形态、结构功能、细胞生物学活性以及味觉信息的传导。     

哺乳动物味蕾细胞分型及其细胞间信息传递

味觉是动物基本的生理感觉之一,在人类的感官研究方面,味觉一直滞后于视觉、嗅觉、触觉和听觉.味蕾是味觉的主要感受器,由于传统的细胞生物学研究手段很难在味觉研究中得到应用,人类和动物味觉的信号传递与编码机制目前还处于探索阶段,是目前的研究热点之一.近年来,随着现代分子细胞生物学和微电子传感器技术的发展和应用,味觉研究取得了较大进展.本文主要对近年来对味蕾结构和味细胞间的信号传递研究成果进行了综述,重点介绍了味细胞分型及其特征、味蕾细胞间信号传递途径及其编码机制.     

PPK28介导果蝇味觉水感受

2010年5月5日,《神经科学杂志》（The Journal of Neuroscience）发表了中国科学院上海生命科学研究院神经科学研究所神经环路与动物行为研究组的研究成果。该项工作由博士研究生陈子敬及工作人员王清秀在王佐仁研究员的指导下共同完成。     

《国家科学院院刊》：发现鲜味味觉受依的分子机制

美国科学家发现了鲜味味觉受体的分子机制,鲜昧是五种味道中最神秘的一种,是一种开胃的味道,自然存在于一系列食物中,在进食的时候能给人以愉悦的感觉。相关论文发表在《国家科学院院刊》上。     

肠道感知与生物适应性

肠道(gut)是机体与外界交流的重要器官,吸收营养并排出废物,在维持机体稳态和生理功能方面起着至关重要的作用。肠道中存在丰富的细胞类型和神经信号分子,研究表明,肠道细胞上的特定受体能够被食物激活,从而感知味道和营养成分,并将信息直接或间接向大脑传递。肠道感知(intestinal perception)是自然界多种生物中普遍存在的感觉系统,具有物种保守性。因此,肠道感知相关的研究,对理解物种的进化和生物在自然界中的适应性机制具有重要意义。本文对肠道不同物质感知的分子及环路机制的研究现状进行了简要综述,为进一步研究肠-脑轴神经环路在生物个体进化中的作用及生物的物种-环境共生进化的理论提供依据。     

Temperature and Sweet Taste Integration in Drosophila

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肠道微生物与人体健康研究进展

人类肠道中定居着许多对宿主有益的微生物,包括细菌、病毒、真核生物等,它们在肠道内能与其他微生物及免疫系统相互作用,对人体健康具有重要影响,被称为"被遗忘的器官",它们的基因组也被誉为人类的"第二基因组",与人体的能量代谢及物质代谢有关。本文总结了人体肠道中病毒、真核生物、细菌和宿主免疫系统的相互作用,微生物群的失衡可能导致的疾病如肥胖和克罗恩病等,以及微生物环境在人体内的成熟过程,期望有助于诊断和治疗与肠道微生物失衡相关的疾病。     

Gut dysbacteriosis and intestinal disease: mechanism and treatment

The gut microbiome functions like an endocrine organ, generating bioactive metabolites, enzymes or small molecules that can impact host physiology. Gut dysbacteriosis is associated with many intestinal diseases including (but not limited to) inflammatory bowel disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis-IBD, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, osmotic diarrhoea and colorectal cancer. The potential pathogenic mechanism of gut dysbacteriosis associated with intestinal diseases includes the alteration of composition of gut microbiota as well as the gut microbiota–derived signalling molecules. The many correlations between the latter and the susceptibility for intestinal diseases has placed a spotlight on the gut microbiome as a potential novel target for therapeutics. Currently, faecal microbial transplantation, dietary interventions, use of probiotics, prebiotics and drugs are the major therapeutic tools utilized to impact dysbacteriosis and associated intestinal diseases. In this review, we systematically summarized the role of intestinal microbiome in the occurrence and development of intestinal diseases. The potential mechanism of the complex interplay between gut dysbacteriosis and intestinal diseases, and the treatment methods are also highlighted.     

Tissue-Specific Activation of a Single Gustatory Receptor Produces Opposing Behavioral Responses in Drosophila

Understanding sensory systems that perceive environmental inputs and neural circuits that select appropriate motor outputs is essential for studying how organisms modulate behavior and make decisions necessary for survival. Drosophila melanogaster oviposition is one such important behavior, in which females evaluate their environment and choose to lay eggs on substrates they may find aversive in other contexts. We employed neurogenetic techniques to characterize neurons that influence the choice between repulsive positional and attractive egg-laying responses toward the bitter-tasting compound lobeline. Surprisingly, we found that neurons expressing Gr66a, a gustatory receptor normally involved in avoidance behaviors, receive input for both attractive and aversive preferences. We hypothesized that these opposing responses may result from activation of distinct Gr66a-expressing neurons. Using tissue-specific rescue experiments, we found that Gr66a-expressing neurons on the legs mediate positional aversion. In contrast, pharyngeal taste cells mediate the egg-laying attraction to lobeline, as determined by analysis of mosaic flies in which subsets of Gr66a neurons were silenced. Finally, inactivating mushroom body neurons disrupted both aversive and attractive responses, suggesting that this brain structure is a candidate integration center for decision-making during Drosophila oviposition. We thus define sensory and central neurons critical to the process by which flies decide where to lay an egg. Furthermore, our findings provide insights into the complex nature of gustatory perception in Drosophila. We show that tissue-specific activation of bitter-sensing Gr66a neurons provides one mechanism by which the gustatory system differentially encodes aversive and attractive responses, allowing the female fly to modulate her behavior in a context-dependent manner.     

高等植物中的多肽激素

高等植物的第一个多肽激素（系统素）发现已经有10多年的历史。到目前为止,被普遍认可的植物多肽激素有4种：系统素、PSK、CLV3和SCR,分别参与了植物的防御反应、细胞的分裂、茎端生长点干细胞数目维持和花粉．柱头的识别过程。这些小分子多肽化合物以配基的形式与细胞膜表面的受体激酶相互作用,从而实现细胞之间的信号交流。本文对这4种多肽激素及其相应受体的研究进展做了简要评述,并着重介绍当前研究比较热门的CLV3多肽,最后对相关领域的发展前景进行探讨。     

Microbial Metabolites and Intestinal Stem Cells Tune Intestinal Homeostasis

Microorganisms that colonize the gastrointestinal tract, collectively known as the gut microbiota, are known to produce small molecules and metabolites that significantly contribute to host intestinal development, functions, and homeostasis. Emerging insights from microbiome research reveal that gut microbiota‐derived signals and molecules influence another key player maintaining intestinal homeostasis—the intestinal stem cell niche, which regulates epithelial self‐renewal. In this review, the literature on gut microbiota‐host crosstalk is surveyed, highlighting the effects of gut microbial metabolites on intestinal stem cells. The production of various classes of metabolites, their actions on intestinal stem cells are discussed and, finally, how the production and function of metabolites are modulated by aging and dietary intake is commented upon.     

Chemosensory Adaptation to Lysozyme and GTP Involves Independently Regulated Receptors in Tetrahymena thermophila

ABSTRACT. Chemosensory adaptation is seen in Tetrahymena thermophila following prolonged exposure (ten minutes) to micromolar concentrations of the chemorepellents lysozyme or guanosine triphosphate (GTP). Since these cells initially show repeated backward swimming episodes (avoidance reactions) in these repellents, behavioral adaptation is seen as a decrease in this repellent-induced behavior. The time course of this behavioral adaptation is paralleled by decreases in the extents of surface binding of either [³²P]GTP or [³H]lysozyme in vivo. Scatchard plot analyses of repellent binding in adapted cells suggests the behavioral adaptation is due to a dramatic decrease in the number of surface binding sites, as represented by decreased Bmax values. The estimated K_D values for nonadapted cells are 6.6 μM and 8.4 μM for lysozyme and GTP binding, respectively. Behavioral adaptation and decreased surface receptor binding are specific for each repellent. The GTP adapted cells (20 μM for ten minutes) still respond behaviorally to 50 μM lysozyme and bind [³H]lysozyme normally. Lysozyme adapted cells (50 μM for ten minutes) still bind [³²P]GTP and respond behaviorally to GTP. All the behavioral and binding changes seen are also reversible (deadaptation). Neomycin was shown to be a competitive inhibitor of [³H]lysozyme binding and lysozyme-induced avoidance reactions, but it had no effect on either [³²P]GTP binding or GTP-induced or avoidance reactions. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that there are two separate repellent receptors, one for GTP and the other for lysozyme, that are independently downregulated during adaptation to cause specific receptor desensitization and consequent behavioral adaptation.     

果蝇肠道干细胞增殖与分化机制及其研究进展

动物肠道经常接触微生物而引起免疫应答,持续感染将导致胃肠疾病的发生.大量文献报道了果蝇中肠是研究肠道干细胞稳态的理想模型.本文将对果蝇肠道干细胞增殖与分化机制进行简要归纳和总结,同时对该领域的研究前景进行展望,为研究果蝇肠道内稳态提供一定的理论基础.