Taste Receptors: New Players in Sperm Biology
1
Department of Molecular and Developmental Medicine, Siena University, 53100 Siena, Italy
2
Walther-Straub-Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, 80539 Munich, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(4), 967; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20040967
Received: 30 January 2019
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Revised: 13 February 2019
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Accepted: 18 February 2019
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Published: 22 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Spermatozoa)
Taste receptors were first described as sensory receptors located on the tongue, where they are expressed in small clusters of specialized epithelial cells. However, more studies were published in recent years pointing to an expression of these proteins not only in the oral cavity but throughout the body and thus to a physiological role beyond the tongue. The recent observation that taste receptors and components of the coupled taste transduction cascade are also expressed during the different phases of spermatogenesis as well as in mature spermatozoa from mouse to humans and the overlap between the ligand spectrum of taste receptors with compounds in the male and female reproductive organs makes it reasonable to assume that sperm “taste” these different cues in their natural microenvironments. This assumption is assisted by the recent observations of a reproductive phenotype of different mouse lines carrying a targeted deletion of a taste receptor gene as well as the finding of a significant correlation between human male infertility and some polymorphisms in taste receptors genes. In this review, we depict recent findings on the role of taste receptors in male fertility, especially focusing on their possible involvement in mechanisms underlying spermatogenesis and post testicular sperm maturation. We also highlight the impact of genetic deletions of taste receptors, as well as their polymorphisms on male reproduction.
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Keywords:
sperm; taste receptor; spermatogenesis; apoptosis; epididymal sperm maturation; acrosome reaction; knockout mice; reproduction; cAMP; calcium; spontaneous activity of GPCRs; SNP
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MDPI and ACS Style
Luddi, A.; Governini, L.; Wilmskötter, D.; Gudermann, T.; Boekhoff, I.; Piomboni, P. Taste Receptors: New Players in Sperm Biology. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20, 967. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20040967
AMA Style
Luddi A, Governini L, Wilmskötter D, Gudermann T, Boekhoff I, Piomboni P. Taste Receptors: New Players in Sperm Biology. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019; 20(4):967. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20040967
Chicago/Turabian StyleLuddi, Alice, Laura Governini, Dorke Wilmskötter, Thomas Gudermann, Ingrid Boekhoff, and Paola Piomboni. 2019. "Taste Receptors: New Players in Sperm Biology" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20, no. 4: 967. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20040967
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