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FUNDING PROGRAM FOR NEXT GENERATION WORLD-LEADING RESEARCHERS
Project Title: Structure-biological elucidation of mechanisms of taste recognition by taste receptors
Name: Atsuko YAMASHITA
Institution: Okayama University
1. Background of research
The taste perception is an important function for living organisms to detect chemical substances contained in
foods and judge whether they serve as nutrients or toxics for survival. However, current understanding of
molecular mechanisms for taste perception is limited.
2. Research objectives
Taste perception starts with recognition of the taste substances and transmission of the external chemical
information to inside of the body by taste receptors, chemosensory proteins existing in oral cavity. Toward
understanding how we sense taste, it is important to understand how taste receptors recognize chemical
substances and transmit the signal to inside of the cells. The objective of this project is to elucidate functional
mechanisms of taste receptors by structural and biochemical analyses.
3. Research characteristics (incl. originality and creativity)
Molecular-level analyses of taste receptors have so far been hampered by difficulties in sample preparation,
because they are integral membrane proteins. This project aims to achieve sample preparation of taste
receptors suitable for structural and biochemical analyses by use of recently-developed sample preparation
methodologies for structure analyses of membrane proteins, and address their molecular functions in depth.
4. Anticipated effects and future applications of research
Knowledge about the three-dimensional structures and functional mechanisms of taste receptors is expected to
contribute development of novel artificial taste substances and taste evaluation systems, and provide useful
information for drug discoveries targeting receptor proteins homologous to taste receptors working in other
biological systems.