Department of Pharmacology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Korea.
BK21 Graduate Program, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 02841, Korea.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Aug 26;23(17):9677. doi: 10.3390/ijms23179677.
Taste receptors are responsible for detecting their ligands not only in taste receptor cells (TRCs) but also in non-gustatory organs. For several decades, many research groups have accumulated evidence for such "ectopic" expression of taste receptors. More recently, some of the physiologic functions (apart from taste) of these ectopic taste receptors have been identified. Here, we summarize our current understanding of these ectopic taste receptors across multiple organs. With a particular focus on the specialized epithelial cells called tuft cells, which are now considered siblings of type II TRCs, we divide the ectopic expression of taste receptors into two categories: taste receptors in TRC-like cells outside taste buds and taste receptors with surprising ectopic expression in completely different cell types.
味觉受体不仅在味觉受体细胞（TRC）中，而且在非味觉器官中负责检测其配体。几十年来，许多研究小组积累了这些“异位”表达味觉受体的证据。最近，这些异位味觉受体的一些生理功能（味觉除外）已经被确定。在这里，我们总结了我们目前对多个器官中这些异位味觉受体的理解。特别关注一种称为绒毛细胞的特化上皮细胞，它们现在被认为是 II 型 TRC 的兄弟姐妹，我们将味觉受体的异位表达分为两类：味蕾外的 TRC 样细胞中的味觉受体和在完全不同细胞类型中具有惊人异位表达的味觉受体。
