Physiologie de la Nutrition & Toxicologie, UMR INSERM U1231 Lipide, Nutrition & Cancer, Université de Bourgogne, 21000 Dijon, France.
Bioenergetics and Intermediary Metabolism Team, Laboratory of Biology and Organisms Physiology, University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, Algiers 16111, Algeria.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jun 19;24(12):10325. doi: 10.3390/ijms241210325.
The sense of taste determines the choice of nutrients and food intake and, consequently, influences feeding behaviors. The taste papillae are primarily composed of three types of taste bud cells (TBC), i.e., type I, type II, and type III. The type I TBC, expressing GLAST (glutamate--aspartate transporter), have been termed as glial-like cells. We hypothesized that these cells could play a role in taste bud immunity as glial cells do in the brain. We purified type I TBC, expressing F4/80, a specific marker of macrophages, from mouse fungiform taste papillae. The purified cells also express CD11b, CD11c, and CD64, generally expressed by glial cells and macrophages. We further assessed whether mouse type I TBC can be polarized toward M1 or M2 macrophages in inflammatory states like lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-triggered inflammation or obesity, known to be associated with low-grade inflammation. Indeed, LPS-treatment and obesity state increased TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6 expression, both at mRNA and protein levels, in type I TBC. Conversely, purified type I TBC treated with IL-4 showed a significant increase in arginase 1 and IL-4. These findings provide evidence that type I gustatory cells share many features with macrophages and may be involved in oral inflammation.
味觉决定了营养物质和食物的选择，进而影响摄食行为。味觉乳头主要由三种类型的味蕾细胞（TBC）组成，即 I 型、II 型和 III 型。表达 GLAST（谷氨酸-天冬氨酸转运体）的 I 型 TBC 被称为胶质样细胞。我们假设这些细胞可以像大脑中的神经胶质细胞一样，在味觉感受器的免疫中发挥作用。我们从小鼠菌状乳头中纯化了表达 F4/80 的 I 型 TBC，F4/80 是巨噬细胞的特异性标志物。纯化的细胞还表达 CD11b、CD11c 和 CD64，这些通常由神经胶质细胞和巨噬细胞表达。我们进一步评估了在脂多糖（LPS）触发的炎症或肥胖等炎症状态下，是否可以将小鼠 I 型 TBC 极化成 M1 或 M2 巨噬细胞，已知这些状态与低度炎症有关。事实上，LPS 处理和肥胖状态增加了 I 型 TBC 中 TNFα、IL-1β 和 IL-6 的表达，无论是在 mRNA 还是蛋白质水平上。相反，用 IL-4 处理的纯化 I 型 TBC 中精氨酸酶 1 和 IL-4 的表达显著增加。这些发现表明 I 型味觉细胞与巨噬细胞有许多共同特征，可能参与口腔炎症。
