Event Abstract Back to Event TNF and IL-10 in a bitter-sweet battle in taste buds Pu Feng1, Jinghua Chai1, Liquan Huang1 and Hong Wang1* 1 Monell Chemical Senses Center, United States Taste buds are chemosensory structures widely distributed on the surface of the oral cavity and larynx. Taste cells, exposed to the oral environment, face great challenges in defense against potential pathogens. While immune cells are rarely found in taste buds, our recent studies suggest that some immune-response-associated molecules are expressed at higher levels in taste cells than in nontaste tongue epithelial cells. It remains unclear how protective responses are regulated in taste buds. In this study, we investigated the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in the posterior taste tissues. Both TNF and IL-10 were found exclusively in subsets of type II taste cells, the receptor cells for sweet, bitter and umami tastes. Further analysis revealed that TNF was co-expressed with the sweet and umami receptor T1R3, but not with the G-protein Gustducin (mostly bitter receptor cells). In contrast, IL-10 was co-expressed with Gustducin, but not with T1R3. Meanwhile, there were few taste cells co-expressed both cytokines. These data suggest that these two cytokines are produced by different populations of taste cells in the posterior taste tissues: TNF by sweet and umami cells and IL-10 by bitter cells. Furthermore, TNF receptors were expressed in all taste cells at differential levels, while IL-10 receptors were preferentially expressed in T1R3+TNF+ cells, suggesting that TNF could act on all taste cells under inflammatory conditions, while IL-10 may preferentially target TNF-producing-taste cells to limit TNF production. This study revealed a novel regulatory mechanism of inflammation in taste buds. Acknowledgements This study was supported by NIH/NIDCD grants DC010012, DC007487 and DC011735 and NSF grant DBJ-0216310. Keywords: TNF, IL-10, cytokine, Taste Buds, Inflammation Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Innate immunity Citation: Feng P, Chai J, Huang L and Wang H (2013). TNF and IL-10 in a bitter-sweet battle in taste buds. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.00081 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 08 Mar 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Hong Wang, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States, hwang@monell.org Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Pu Feng Jinghua Chai Liquan Huang Hong Wang Google Pu Feng Jinghua Chai Liquan Huang Hong Wang Google Scholar Pu Feng Jinghua Chai Liquan Huang Hong Wang PubMed Pu Feng Jinghua Chai Liquan Huang Hong Wang Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.
Read full abstract