ISHIMARU YOSHIRO    Department   Undergraduate School  , School of Agriculture    Position   Professor
Research Period	2014/04～2016/03
Research Topic	Screening of novel ion channels for sour and salty taste
Research Type	KAKENHI Research
Consignor	Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Research Program Type	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
KAKENHI Grant No.	26660108
Responsibility	Representative Researcher
Representative Person	ISHIMARU Yoshiro
Details	We carried out screening of novel ion channels for salty taste using RNA-Seq method and the transcription factor Skn-1-deficient mice. As a result, we found that gene X is specifically expressed in taste receptor cells of circumavallate and foliate papillae. Electrophysiological analysis using HEK293T cells revealed that X forms a chloride channel. Finally, X-decifient mice showed reduced glossopharyngeal nerve and aversive lick responses to high concentration (>100 mM) of NaCl. Taken together, these results demonstrate that gene X may be involved in the detection of chloride anion in food.