A research group led by Nipawan Nuamket, a specially appointed assistant professor at the Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University (at the time of research), has found that the taste receptor protein, which is responsible for sensing taste substances in the mouth, is a cell that is a major part of the receptor. We succeeded in elucidating the structure of the state in which the outer sensor area binds taste substances.This is the first time that the three-dimensional structure of the taste receptor has been clarified among the sensor proteins responsible for the five senses.This achievement is a result of joint research with RIKEN, Agricultural and Food Industry Technology Research Organization, Institute for Molecular Science, Institute for Molecular Science, Tohoku University, and Osaka University.

In taste receptor, various chemical substances contained in food are recognized by a limited number of receptors.From this, the taste receptor is not a sensor that strictly distinguishes a specific chemical substance, but a sensor that can recognize a relatively wide range of chemical substances.However, it was unclear how taste receptors perceive taste substances.

The research group performed the analysis using the large synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8.As a result, the taste receptor has a large taste substance binding pocket, and while directly recognizing the parts common to amino acids that are taste substances, the parts that differ for each amino acid are recognized while being covered with water molecules. It turns out that there is.It was also found that the pocket surface has regions having various properties such as acidity, basicity, and neutrality in a mosaic pattern, and amino acids having various properties can be bound to each other.

The results of this research are the first to capture the interaction between receptors and taste substances, which is the first reaction of taste reception, at the atomic level, and it is an important step to understand the mechanism of taste and a new taste. It is expected to lead to the development of substances.

Paper information: [Nature Communications] Structural basis for perception of diverse chemical substances by T1r taste receptors

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