The Surprising Locations of Taste Receptors and Their Role in Health
Taste receptors, once thought to be exclusive to the tongue, are now discovered in unexpected places throughout the body, including the nose, gingiva, and dental pulp. Research from Penn Dental Medicine reveals how these receptors play crucial roles in detecting pathogens, triggering immune responses, and even numbing teeth.
Taste receptors, known for detecting food’s chemical attributes on the tongue, have been found in surprising locations throughout the body, thanks to the research of Marco Tizzano, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Basic and Translational Sciences from University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine (Penn Dental Medicine). Tizzano has documented these receptors in the airways, gingiva, and dental pulp, where they perform vital functions. In the nose, bitter taste receptors detect bacterial communication compounds and activate the trigeminal nerve, causing an inflammatory response. In the gingiva, these receptors help protect against periodontitis by triggering antimicrobial peptide production upon sensing harmful bacteria. Furthermore, odor-detecting receptors in dental pulp respond to eugenol — an odor molecule from cloves — to numb teeth. Tizzano aims to harness naturally occurring compounds, such as eugenol, to stimulate these receptors for health benefits, including new pain relief methods for dental procedures and therapies to combat periodontal diseases. Click here to read more.
