Bigiani Albertino
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Metaboliche e Neuroscienze, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy.
Nutrients. 2020 Apr 24;12(4):1195. doi: 10.3390/nu12041195.
Taste reception is fundamental for the proper selection of food and beverages. Among the several chemicals recognized by the human taste system, sodium ions (Na) are of particular relevance. Na represents the main extracellular cation and is a key factor in many physiological processes. Na elicits a specific sensation, called salty taste, and low-medium concentrations of table salt (NaCl, the common sodium-containing chemical we use to season foods) are perceived as pleasant and appetitive. How we detect this cation in foodstuffs is scarcely understood. In animal models, such as the mouse and the rat, the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) has been proposed as a key protein for recognizing Na and for mediating preference responses to low-medium salt concentrations. Here, I will review our current understanding regarding the possible involvement of ENaC in the detection of food Na by the human taste system.
味觉感受对于正确选择食物和饮料至关重要。在人类味觉系统识别的几种化学物质中，钠离子（Na）尤为重要。Na是主要的细胞外阳离子，也是许多生理过程中的关键因素。Na会引发一种特定的感觉，即咸味，而低至中等浓度的食盐（NaCl，我们用于给食物调味的常见含钠化学物质）会被认为是美味可口的。我们如何在食物中检测这种阳离子却鲜为人知。在动物模型中，如小鼠和大鼠，上皮钠通道（ENaC）已被认为是识别Na以及介导对低至中等盐浓度偏好反应的关键蛋白。在此，我将综述我们目前对ENaC可能参与人类味觉系统检测食物中Na的理解。
