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The K+-H+ exchanger, nigericin, modulates taste cell pH and chorda tympani taste nerve responses to acidic stimuli
- Source :
- Chemical senses. 36(4)
- Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- The relationship between acidic pH, taste cell pH(i), and chorda tympani (CT) nerve responses was investigated before and after incorporating the K(+)-H(+) exchanger, nigericin, in the apical membrane of taste cells. CT responses were recorded in anesthetized rats in vivo, and changes in pH(i) were monitored in polarized fungiform taste cells in vitro. Under control conditions, stimulating the tongue with 0.15 M potassium phosphate (KP) or 0.15 M sodium phosphate (NaP) buffers of pHs between 8.0 and 4.6, KP or NaP buffers did not elicit a CT response. Post-nigericin (500 × 10(-6) M), KP buffers, but not NaP buffers, induced CT responses at pHs ≤ 6.6. The effect of nigericin was reversed by the topical lingual application of carbonyl cyanide 3-chloro-phenylhydrazone, a protonophore. Post-nigericin (150 × 10(-6) M), KP buffers induced a greater decrease in taste cell pH(i) relative to NaP buffers and to NaP and KP buffers under control conditions. A decrease in pH(i) to about 6.9 induced by KP buffers was sufficient to elicit a CT response. The results suggest that facilitating apical H(+) entry via nigericin decreases taste cell pH(i) and demonstrates directly a strong correlation between pH(i) and the magnitude of the CT response.
- Subjects :
- Taste
Nigericin
Physiology
Protonophore
Sodium
chemistry.chemical_element
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Behavioral Neuroscience
chemistry.chemical_compound
Potassium phosphate
Physiology (medical)
Animals
Research Articles
Ionophores
Hydrazones
Apical membrane
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Phosphate
Taste Buds
Sensory Systems
Rats
Nap
chemistry
Biochemistry
Biophysics
Female
Chorda Tympani Nerve
Acids
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14643553
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Chemical senses
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d5d3fb918d3967852d138e7c75e1aae9