Division in Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Department of Oral Biology, Taste Research Center, Oral Science Research Center, BK21 FOUR Project, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, South Korea.
Division of Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Hard Tissue, Department of Tissue Regeneration and Reconstruction, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan.
Exp Mol Med. 2023 Jan;55(1):171-182. doi: 10.1038/s12276-022-00924-8. Epub 2023 Jan 11.
Taste receptor cells are taste bud epithelial cells that are dependent upon the innervating nerve for continuous renewal and are maintained by resident tissue stem/progenitor cells. Transection of the innervating nerve causes degeneration of taste buds and taste receptor cells. However, a subset of the taste receptor cells is maintained without nerve contact after glossopharyngeal nerve transection in the circumvallate papilla in adult mice. Here, we revealed that injury caused by glossopharyngeal nerve transection triggers the remaining differentiated K8-positive taste receptor cells to dedifferentiate and acquire transient progenitor cell-like states during regeneration. Dedifferentiated taste receptor cells proliferate, express progenitor cell markers (K14, Sox2, PCNA) and form organoids in vitro. These data indicate that differentiated taste receptor cells can enter the cell cycle, acquire stemness, and participate in taste bud regeneration. We propose that dedifferentiated taste receptor cells in combination with stem/progenitor cells enhance the regeneration of taste buds following nerve injury.
味觉受体细胞是味觉感受器上皮细胞，它们依赖于支配神经进行连续更新，并由常驻组织干细胞/祖细胞维持。支配神经的切断会导致味蕾和味觉受体细胞的退化。然而，在成年小鼠的环状乳突中切断舌咽神经后，味觉受体细胞的一部分在没有神经接触的情况下仍然存在。在这里，我们揭示了舌咽神经切断引起的损伤会触发剩余的分化的 K8 阳性味觉受体细胞去分化，并在再生过程中获得短暂的祖细胞样状态。去分化的味觉受体细胞增殖，表达祖细胞标志物（K14、Sox2、PCNA），并在体外形成类器官。这些数据表明，分化的味觉受体细胞可以进入细胞周期，获得干性，并参与味蕾再生。我们提出，去分化的味觉受体细胞与干细胞/祖细胞一起，增强了神经损伤后味蕾的再生。
