A Bitter Taste in Your Heart

The human genome contains ∼29 bitter taste receptors (T2Rs), which are responsible for detecting thousands of bitter ligands, including toxic and aversive compounds. This sentinel function varies between individuals and is underpinned by naturally occurring T2R polymorphisms, which have also been as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in physiology Vol. 11; p. 431
Main Authors Bloxham, Conor J, Foster, Simon R, Thomas, Walter G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 08.05.2020
Subjects
bitter ligands
cardiac physiology
G protein-coupled receptors
Physiology
polymorphisms
signaling
taste receptors
taste receptors
G protein-coupled receptors
signaling
polymorphisms
bitter ligands
cardiac physiology
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Summary:The human genome contains ∼29 bitter taste receptors (T2Rs), which are responsible for detecting thousands of bitter ligands, including toxic and aversive compounds. This sentinel function varies between individuals and is underpinned by naturally occurring T2R polymorphisms, which have also been associated with disease. Recent studies have reported the expression of T2Rs and their downstream signaling components within non-gustatory tissues, including the heart. Though the precise role of T2Rs in the heart remains unclear, evidence points toward a role in cardiac contractility and overall vascular tone. In this review, we summarize the extra-oral expression of T2Rs, focusing on evidence for expression in heart; we speculate on the range of potential ligands that may activate them; we define the possible signaling pathways they activate; and we argue that their discovery in heart predicts an, as yet, unappreciated cardiac physiology.
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Reviewed by: Wenkuan Xin, Southwest University, China; Cheng-Hai Zhang, Harvard Medical School, United States
Edited by: Ronghua ZhuGe, University of Massachusetts Medical School, United States
This article was submitted to Integrative Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Physiology
ISSN:1664-042X
1664-042X
DOI:10.3389/fphys.2020.00431