Western Diet Induced Remodelling of the Tongue Proteome.

Mriga Dutt,Yaan-Kit Ng,Ronnie Blazev,Luoping Liao,Benjamin L Parker,Matthew J Watt,Magdalene K Montgomery,Hamzeh Karimkhanloo,Jeffrey Molendijk

doi:10.3390/proteomes9020022

Abstract

The tongue is a heavily innervated and vascularized striated muscle that plays an important role in vocalization, swallowing and digestion. The surface of the tongue is lined with papillae which contain gustatory cells expressing various taste receptors. There is growing evidence to suggest that our perceptions of taste and food preference are remodelled following chronic consumption of Western diets rich in carbohydrate and fats. Our sensitivity to taste and also to metabolising Western diets may be a key factor in the rising prevalence of obesity; however, a systems-wide analysis of the tongue is lacking. Here, we defined the proteomic landscape of the mouse tongue and quantified changes following chronic consumption of a chow or Western diet enriched in lipid, fructose and cholesterol for 7 months. We observed a dramatic remodelling of the tongue proteome including proteins that regulate fatty acid and mitochondrial metabolism. Furthermore, the expressions of several receptors, metabolic enzymes and hormones were differentially regulated, and are likely to provide novel therapeutic targets to alter taste perception and food preference to combat obesity.

Highlights

The mammalian tongue is a highly innervated, specialised muscular organ that is vital for speech, vocalisation and hosts the gustatory system, allowing for detection of flavour and taste
Taste perception occurs in taste buds, which are specialised sensory cells embedded in the stratified epithelium of the tongue, and classified as either Type I, II or III cells [1,2,3,4,5]
Gene Ontology cellular compartment analysis annotated 73% of the proteome to the cytoplasm, with more than 1000 proteins annotated as plasma membrane-associated, and 974 and 624 annotated to the nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR), respectively (Figure 1a)

Summary

Introduction

The mammalian tongue is a highly innervated, specialised muscular organ that is vital for speech, vocalisation and hosts the gustatory system, allowing for detection of flavour and taste. Type II cells house the sensory Gprotein coupled receptors (GPCR) used for chemodetection of sweet, bitter and the aminoacid based umami stimuli [7], while the Type III cells undergo activation of ion/ligandgated ion channels to allow for sour and salty taste perception [8,9]. These gustatory receptors provide a positive stimulus for appetite satiation and promote ingestion of foods [5]. The tongue is highly relevant in understanding dietary diseases, predominantly obesity, a prevalent metabolic disease that typically involves excessive consumption of high calorie ‘Western diets’ rich in carbohydrates and fats

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Conclusion