Technique to Collect Fungiform (Taste) Papillae from Human Tongue
Summary
Knowledge of molecular mechanisms underlying gustatory transduction has recently enjoyed significant advances, largely due to using animal models. However, the wide diversity in taste sensitivity and specificity among mammals warrants studies in human tissue. We describe a biopsy technique to collect living taste cells from the papillae on human tongue.
Abstract
The sense of taste is critical for human life. It informs the body about the quality of food that will be potentially ingested and stimulates metabolic processes that prepare the alimentary canal for digestion. Steady progress is being made towards understanding the early biochemical and molecular events underlying taste transduction (for a review, Breslin and Spector, 20081). However, progress to date has largely resulted from animal models. Yet, since marked differences in receptor specificity and receptor density vary among species, human taste transduction will only be understood by using human taste tissue. Here we describe a biopsy technique to collect human fungiform papillae, visible as rounded pink anterior structures, about 0.5 mm in diameter that contain taste buds. These biopsied papillae are used for several purposes including the isolation of viable taste bud cells, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry and, through techniques of molecular biology, the identification of taste-specific novel proteins.
Protocol
Discussion
One notable advantage to using human cells is their specificity. The procedure described here in detail provides tongue tissue for isolation of taste receptor cells from humans. These taste cells can be used for molecular studies, seeking to discover molecules important for transduction of taste information, and for calcium imaging studies that monitor taste cell activity to stimuli. Additionally, tongue tissue provided by this procedure can be analyzed with various techniques such as immunohistochemistry, in situ</e…
Divulgations
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by NIH R21 DC03969-01 (to JGB). We thank Dr. Fritz Lischka for capturing single taste bud cells, Dr. Tauf Huque for performing the RT-PCR shown in Figure 4B and Mr. D. Bayley and Ms. S. Alarcon for technical assistance. M. Yanina Pepino is a fellow supported by a NIDAT32 DA07313 Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (Cottler, L.B. PI).
Materials
| Material Name | Type | Company | Catalogue Number | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McPherson-Vannas. Curved, sharp cutting edge 5mm. Comb, tip width 0.2 mm overall length 3″ | Roboz Surgical Instruments Co., Inc. Gaithersburg, MD 20898 | RS-5603, Roboz | ||
| Small Dumont forceps | Roboz Surgical Instruments Co. | RS-4915, Roboz |
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