The role of pannexin 1 hemichannels in ATP release and cell–cell communication in mouse taste buds

doi:10.1073/pnas.0611280104

The role of pannexin 1 hemichannels in ATP release and cell–cell communication in mouse taste buds

*Department of Physiology and Biophysics and
^†Program in Neurosciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1600 NW 10th Street, Miami, FL 33136

Edited by Linda M. Bartoshuk, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, and approved February 23, 2007 (received for review December 19, 2006)

Abstract

ATP has been shown to be a taste bud afferent transmitter, but the cells responsible for, and the mechanism of, its release have not been identified. Using CHO cells expressing high-affinity neurotransmitter receptors as biosensors, we show that gustatory stimuli cause receptor cells to secrete ATP through pannexin 1 hemichannels in mouse taste buds. ATP further stimulates other taste cells to release a second transmitter, serotonin. These results provide a mechanism to link intracellular Ca²⁺ release during taste transduction to secretion of afferent transmitter, ATP, from receptor cells. They also indicate a route for cell–cell communication and signal processing within the taste bud.

Footnotes

^‡To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: roper{at}miami.edu
Author contributions: Y.-J.H., Y.M., G.D., N.C., and S.D.R. designed research; Y.-J.H., Y.M., G.D., and E.P. performed research; Y.-J.H., Y.M., G.D., E.P., N.C., and S.D.R. analyzed data; and N.C. and S.D.R. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS direct submission.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0611280104/DC1.
Abbreviations:

Cx,

connexin;

Px,

pannexin.