| Glossary | |
| Afferent | Neuron or nerve fiber that carries signals from peripheral sensory receptors to the central nervous system. |
| Autocrine | Referring to the action of a transmitter or hormone onto the same cell from which it was secreted. |
| Ecto-ATPase | An enzyme that degrades extracellular ATP; associated with the extracellular face of the plasma membrane of some taste bud cells. |
| GPCR | G protein–coupled receptor; integral plasma membrane proteins with 7 transmembrane domains; detect and signal neurotransmitters, hormones, sensory and other stimuli. |
| Gustation | The sense of taste; beginning with excitation of cells in taste buds and leading to perception of taste qualities (sweet, bitter, etc.). |
| Gustducin | Heterotrimeric G protein that includes a taste-selective Gα subunit, α-gustducin. |
| Pannexin | A family of ion channels (Panx1, 2, 3) related to the gap junction–forming connexin proteins; pannexins may only form hemichannels and transfer molecules from cytoplasm to extracellular space. |
| Paracrine | Referring to the action of a transmitter or hormone onto cells adjacent to or near the cell from which it was secreted. |
| Sensory code | The pattern of action potentials in sensory nerves that denotes the quality, intensity, duration, etc., of a sensory stimulus. |
| Somatosensory | The sense of pain, temperature, touch, pressure, texture (and other tactile stimuli). |
| T1Rs | A family of taste GPCRs (T1R1, R2, R3) that detect sweet or umami tastants; they function as heterodimers, e.g., T1R2 plus T1R3. |
| T2Rs | A family of taste GPCRs that detect bitter tastants; there are 20–40 members in different species. |
| Tastants | Compounds that elicit taste. |
| Taste GPCR | Families of GPCRs that are expressed in taste bud cells and bind sweet, bitter, or umami tastants. |
| Umami taste | A Japanese term (“good taste”), used for the taste of certain amino acids (especially glutamate), nucleotides (esp. IMP, GMP). Roughly translates as “savory”. |
| Glossary | |
| Afferent | Neuron or nerve fiber that carries signals from peripheral sensory receptors to the central nervous system. |
| Autocrine | Referring to the action of a transmitter or hormone onto the same cell from which it was secreted. |
| Ecto-ATPase | An enzyme that degrades extracellular ATP; associated with the extracellular face of the plasma membrane of some taste bud cells. |
| GPCR | G protein–coupled receptor; integral plasma membrane proteins with 7 transmembrane domains; detect and signal neurotransmitters, hormones, sensory and other stimuli. |
| Gustation | The sense of taste; beginning with excitation of cells in taste buds and leading to perception of taste qualities (sweet, bitter, etc.). |
| Gustducin | Heterotrimeric G protein that includes a taste-selective Gα subunit, α-gustducin. |
| Pannexin | A family of ion channels (Panx1, 2, 3) related to the gap junction–forming connexin proteins; pannexins may only form hemichannels and transfer molecules from cytoplasm to extracellular space. |
| Paracrine | Referring to the action of a transmitter or hormone onto cells adjacent to or near the cell from which it was secreted. |
| Sensory code | The pattern of action potentials in sensory nerves that denotes the quality, intensity, duration, etc., of a sensory stimulus. |
| Somatosensory | The sense of pain, temperature, touch, pressure, texture (and other tactile stimuli). |
| T1Rs | A family of taste GPCRs (T1R1, R2, R3) that detect sweet or umami tastants; they function as heterodimers, e.g., T1R2 plus T1R3. |
| T2Rs | A family of taste GPCRs that detect bitter tastants; there are 20–40 members in different species. |
| Tastants | Compounds that elicit taste. |
| Taste GPCR | Families of GPCRs that are expressed in taste bud cells and bind sweet, bitter, or umami tastants. |
| Umami taste | A Japanese term (“good taste”), used for the taste of certain amino acids (especially glutamate), nucleotides (esp. IMP, GMP). Roughly translates as “savory”. |