Unravelling what was pretty much a mystery until now, a new study has revealed how cells transmit taste information to the brain for sweet, bitter and savoury flavours.
Researchers from nine institutions discovered how ATP — the body’s main fuel source — is released as the neurotransmitter from sweet, bitter, and umami (savory) taste bud cells.
The calcium homeostasis modulator 1 (CALHM1) channels protein, which spans a taste bud cell’s outer membrane to allow ions and molecules in and out, releasing ATP to make a neural taste connection. The other two taste types, sour and salt, use different mechanisms to send taste information to the brain, reports Science Daily. ATP release is key to this sensory information path, the researchers say.IANS
