Regulation of the putative amiloride and benzamil (Bz)-insensitive TRPV1t salt taste receptor by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) was studied by monitoring chorda tympani (CT) taste nerve responses to 0.1 M NaCl solutions containing Bz (5 × 10−6 M; a specific ENaC blocker) and resiniferatoxin (RTX; 0–10 × 10−6 M; a specific TRPV1 agonist) in Sprague-Dawley rats and in wildtype (WT) and TRPV1 knockout (KO) mice. In rats and WT mice, RTX elicited a biphasic effect on the NaCl + Bz CT response, increasing the CT response between 0.25 × 10−6 and 1 × 10−6 M. At concentrations >1 × 10−6 M, RTX inhibited the CT response. An increase in PIP2 by topical lingual application of U73122 (a phospholipase C blocker) or diC8-PIP2 (a short chain synthetic PIP2) inhibited the control NaCl + Bz CT response and decreased its sensitivity to RTX. A decrease in PIP2 by topical lingual application of phenylarsine oxide (a phosphoinositide 4 kinase blocker) enhanced the control NaCl + Bz CT response, increased its sensitivity to RTX stimulation, and inhibited the desensitization of the CT response at RTX concentrations >1 × 10−6 M. The ENaC-dependent NaCl CT responses were not altered by changes in PIP2. An increase in PIP2 enhanced CT responses to sweet (0.3 M sucrose) and bitter (0.01 M quinine) stimuli. RTX produced the same increase in the Bz-insensitive Na+response when present in salt solutions containing 0.1 M NaCl + Bz, 0.1 M monosodium glutamate + Bz, 0.1 M NaCl + Bz + 0.005 M SC45647, or 0.1 M NaCl + Bz + 0.01 M quinine. No effect of RTX was observed on CT responses in WT mice and rats in the presence of the TRPV1 blocker N-(3-methoxyphenyl)-4-chlorocinnamide (1 × 10−6 M) or in TRPV1 KO mice. We conclude that PIP2 is a common intracellular effector for sweet, bitter, umami, and TRPV1t-dependent salt taste, although in the last case, PIP2 seems to directly regulate the taste receptor protein itself, i.e., the TRPV1 ion channel or its taste receptor variant, TRPV1t.
T1r3 taste receptor involvement in gustatory neural responses to ethanol and oral ethanol preference
