「吉井道場」道場主 神経情報処理講座 感覚受容機構 教授 薬学博士 吉井清哲
 
Our taste buds scattered on the tongue, the soft palate, and so on detect taste substances to trigger taste nerve responses, which causes taste sensation in the brain. Of the approximately forty to fifty cells that comprise each taste bud, less than three have synaptic contacts with taste nerves. Interestingly, cells that express taste receptors for sweet or bitter substances do not have these synapses. The mechanism of how such cells trigger taste nerve responses has been a mystery. Recent hypothesis is that many cells together with taste nerves are involved in cell-networks in each taste bud to generate taste nerve responses. Our goal is to illustrate the mechanism of the cell-networks physiologically and to develop taste-bud-like sensors inspired by the mechanism.

Our understanding of genetics has rapidly advanced in recent years and scientists are now decoding the blueprints for the proteins that make up the human body. In order to decode the complex and diverse mechanisms of life, we must understand the "parts" that comprise it, including genes and proteins, and learn how to handle them. This program adopts the practice of the reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique and the immunohistostaining techniques to give students a perspective into the vast world in a tiny cell.



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