Taste bud cells communicate with sensory afferent fibers
and may also exchange information with adjacent cells.
Indeed, communication between taste cells via conventional
and/or novel synaptic interactions may occur prior to
signal output to primary afferent fibers. Dr. Roper
presented results showing that it is now possible to
measure real time release of synaptic transmitters during
taste stimulation of taste buds. His data provide strong
evidence that serotonin, ATP, and glutamate play a role
in cell-to-cell signaling in taste buds and sensory
output from these gustatory end organs.
These findings lend themselves to a working hypothesis
that potentially dispels a disquieting controversy between
recent findings at the molecular and cellular levels
in taste. Namely, molecular studies have led some investigators
to conclude that taste is encoded as a “labeled line,”
yet findings at the cellular level that indicate taste
is a “combinational code.” These conflicting ideas may
not be as opposing as has been believed to date. Dr.
Roper’s findings can explain how this conundrum is resolved.
