{"id":6428,"date":"2016-01-04T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T23:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/neurobiology-scientists-discover-new-mechanism-for-detecting-sour-taste\/"},"modified":"2023-04-19T11:12:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T18:12:22","slug":"neurobiology-scientists-discover-new-mechanism-for-detecting-sour-taste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/neurobiology-scientists-discover-new-mechanism-for-detecting-sour-taste\/","title":{"rendered":"Neurobiology scientists discover new mechanism for detecting sour taste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n            \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-2244-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-2244-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Neurobiology scientists discover new mechanism for detecting sour taste\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  New research provides surprising clues as to why some foods taste more sour.\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=faculty\">Faculty<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Neurobiology scientists discover new mechanism for detecting sour taste<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Vinegar shouldn\u2019t taste as sour as it does. And if sour taste is caused by acidity, why do some weaker acids taste more sour than stronger ones?\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Robert Perkins<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">January 4, 2016<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg 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rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"E-mail\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_print\">\n              <svg height=\"12\" viewBox=\"0 0 18 12\" width=\"18\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n  \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p><div class=\"video-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eQM19gHwUBk\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>Researchers have discovered a new way that taste cells detect sourness, a sensation that is linked to acidity.<\/p>\n<p>Of the five basic tastes, sour remains the most mysterious &mdash; to the point that the tongue&rsquo;s sour receptor still has not been identified, and the ways in which it receives sour stimuli are still the object of intense research.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Before 2006, we didn&rsquo;t even know definitively which cells detect sour taste,&rdquo; said <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/limanlab\/people\/\" target=\"_blank\">Emily Liman<\/a>, professor of <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/bisc\/neurobiology\/\" target=\"_blank\">neurobiology<\/a> at USC Dornsife.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010, Liman identified one of the molecular pathways by which acidic substances trigger the sour taste sensation. Hydrogen ions released by acids directly enter taste cells on your tongue and trigger an electrical signal to the brain.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-image-portrait news-image-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/migration-uploads\/Sour3-2244.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait Right\" width=\"225\" height=\"338\"><\/p>\n<p>USC Graphic courtesy of Jonas T&ouml;le and David Medzerian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>More than pH<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If that were the only way that sour taste was produced, then the lower the pH, the more sour something should taste. However, some substances &mdash; such as vinegar &mdash; taste <em>more<\/em> sour than one would expect just based on pH.<\/p>\n<p>A substance&rsquo;s pH is just part of the answer &mdash; the concentration of weak acids (such as acetic acid found in vinegar) plays a significant role in how sour it tastes, according to a study published Dec. 1 in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em> by a group of researchers including Liman.<\/p>\n<p>Previous studies showed that the concentration of a weak acid, in addition to its pH, determines its sourness.<\/p>\n<p>By marking sour taste cells with a fluorescent protein, Liman discovered that there&rsquo;s another way to detect sour tastes. The group identified a potassium channel that makes sour taste cells extremely sensitive to changes in the cell&rsquo;s intracellular pH.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Making the cell more acidic, too<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like strong acids, weak acids release hydrogen ions that pass through proteins in the cell membrane, triggering a sour sensation. However, weak acids can go even further, crossing the cell membrane on their own to actually acidify the fluid inside the cell.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Taste represents a fairly direct link between sensation and perception, so it&rsquo;s an interesting window into how our body and mind are connected,&rdquo; Liman said. &ldquo;The mechanism that we discovered not only explains why weak acids taste more sour than strong acid, but it may also explain how we can detect relatively low concentrations of protons because it predicts that there would an amplification of the initial signal.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Liman&rsquo;s coauthors include researchers from USC, the University of Colorado Medical School and&nbsp;the University of Vermont. The research was supported by the <a href=\"http:\/\/nihss\" target=\"_blank\">National Institutes of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nfunction addStyle(styleString) {const style = document.createElement('style'); style.textContent = styleString; document.head.append(style);} addStyle(`div.story-img-container {display: none;}`);\n\/\/ ]]&gt;<\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vinegar shouldn\u2019t taste as sour as it does. And if sour taste is caused by acidity, why do some weaker acids taste more sour than stronger ones?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1148,745],"class_list":["post-6428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","tag-emily-liman","tag-neurobiology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Neurobiology scientists discover new mechanism for detecting sour taste<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/neurobiology-scientists-discover-new-mechanism-for-detecting-sour-taste\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neurobiology scientists discover new mechanism for detecting sour taste\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vinegar shouldn\u2019t taste as sour as it does. 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