“Tasting” the airway lining fluid

Abstract

Specialized epithelial cells of the respiratory tract have been termed "solitary chemosensory cells" based upon the expression of components of the canonical sweet, umami and bitter taste transduction pathway, or "brush cells" based upon their characteristic morphological feature, i.e. an apical, brush-like tuft of rigid, villin containing microvilli. Cells defined by these criteria might not match one-to-one, and a generally accepted terminology is still lacking. With respect to cellular shape, ultrastructure, expression of elements of the taste transduction cascade, innervation and synapse formation, and effects evoked upon their stimulation, it appears that chemosensory/brush in the upper respiratory tract (nasal respiratory mucosa, vomeronasal duct, auditory tube), in the olfactory mucosa, in the larynx, in the lower airways (trachea, bronchi) and in the alveolar region (rat only) each represent distinct groups. Still, they have in common to monitor the chemical composition of the mucosal lining fluid. They serve as sentinels detecting bacterial colonization or the presence of other harmful components in the mucosal lining fluid, leading to the initiation of avoidance reflexes and/or local defense mechanisms which are adapted to their anatomical localization. Free nerve endings are also responsive to inhaled irritants and further work will be needed to discriminate between the contributions of such nerve endings and chemosensory cells in chemical monitoring and defense initiation. Interestingly, there is first emerging evidence that respiratory chemosensory cells may respond to more than one canonical taste quality so that they, in analogy to polymodal nociceptors, may serve as polymodal chemosensors of potentially dangerous signals.