Dual extracellular recording using a light-addressable potentiometric sensor for taste signal transduction

Mammalian taste system can detect and distinguish various taste signals presented by different tastants using various kinds of taste bud cells. This study described a novel bioelectronic sensor in which taste bud cells were used as biotransducer for detecting bitter signals to investigate taste signal transduction. Using a light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) as sensing chip to monitor both extracellular potential and ATP secretion of the taste bud cells, we develop the structure and analyzed the feasibility of taste bud cell-based biosensor used for studying taste signal transduction. We test the performance of this hybrid biosensor by using bitter taste substances, denatonium, as stimulations to taste bud cells. The results show that this hybrid biosensor is sensitive to cell membrane potential changes and ATP secretion under specific taste stimulations, which could help to reveal the relationship between cell membrane potential changes and ATP secretion of taste bud cells. All these results suggest this hybrid cell-based biosensor could be a potential tool for studying taste signal transduction.