To understand the mechanisms that regulate the renewal and maintenance of taste cells we performed RNA-sequencing analysis on isolated taste cells from 2 and 6 month old mice to determine how alterations in the taste cell-transcriptome regulate taste cell maintenance and function in adults. We found that the Activator Protein-1 (AP1) transcription factors (c-Fos, Fosb and c-Jun) and genes associated with this pathway were significantly  downregulated in taste cells from 6 month old mice and further declined at 12 months. We generated conditional c-Fos- knockout mice to target K14-expressing cells, including differentiating taste cells. c-Fos deletion caused a severe perturbation in taste bud structure and resulted in a significant reduction in the taste bud size. c-Fos deletion also affected taste cell turnover as evident by, a decrease in proliferative markers, and upregulation of the apoptotic marker cleaved-PARP. Thus, AP1 factors are important regulators of adult taste cell renewal and their downregulation negatively impacts taste maintenance. SOURCE: Jayasha Shandilya (jayasha123@gmail.com) - Kathryn Medler lab SUNY at University at Buffalo

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE85308: Genome-wide transcriptome analyses by RNAseq to determine the change that happens in the peripheral taste system with age.