Sweet Receptor Pathway
To depolarize the cell, and ultimately generate a response, the body uses a different taste receptor pathway for each taste—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, etc. Incoming sweet molecules bind to their receptors, which causes a conformational change in the molecule. This change activates the G-protein, gustducin, which in turn activates adenylate cyclase. Adenylate cyclase catalyzes the conversion of ATP to cAMP. The cAMP molecule then activates a protein kinase, which in turn phosphorylates and closes a potassium ion channel. The excess potassium ions increase the positive charge within the cell causing voltage-gated calcium ion channels to open, further depolarizing the cell. The increase in calcium ultimately causes neurotransmitter release, which is then received by a primary afferent neuron.
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Famous quotes containing the words sweet, receptor and/or pathway:
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The sweet fruition of an earthly crown.”
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
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“Socrates drinking the hemlock,
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The straight, hard pathway plod—
Some call it Consecration,
And others call it God.”
—William Herbet Carruth (1859–1929)