Characterization of the ligands for the human umami taste receptor

National audience; Among our basics senses, taste and our gustatory system allow us to perceive and recognize essential chemical nutrients present in food. Human can detect and discriminate five basics taste (sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami) and recent studies proposed a sixth taste for fat. The umami taste is described as a « savory » sensation elicited mainly by L-amino acids and is thought to serve as an indicator of protein rich foods and promote feeding.The umami taste receptor is a heterodimeric receptor composed of the T1R1 and T1R3 subunits. These subunits belong to the family class C G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and are constituted by a large N-terminal domain (NTD) lin…