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T1r hetero-oligomeric taste receptors and cell lines that express said receptors and use thereof for identification of taste compounds

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/300,434 filed on Jun. 26, 2001, U.S. utility application Ser. No. 09/897,427 filed on Jul. 3, 2001, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/304,749 filed on Jul. 13, 2001, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/310,493 filed Aug. 8, 2001, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/331,771 filed on Nov. 21, 2001, U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 60/339,472 filed Dec. 14, 2001 and U.S. Ser. No. 10/035,045 filed Jan. 3, 2002, U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 60/372,090 filed Apr. 15, 2002 and U.S. Provisional 60/374,143 filed on Apr. 22, 2002, all of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention in part relates to the discovery that the T1R receptors assemble to form functional taste receptors. Particularly, it has been discovered that co-expression of T1R1 and T1R3 results in a taste receptor that responds to umami taste stimuli, including monosodium glutamate. Also, it has been discovered that co-expression of the T1R2 and T1R3 receptors results in a taste receptor that responds to sweet taste stimuli including naturally occurring and artificial sweeteners.

Also the present invention relates to the use of hetero-oligomeric taste receptors comprising T1R1/T1R3 and T1R2/T1R3 in assays to identify compounds that respectively respond to umami taste stimuli and sweet taste stimuli.

Further, the invention relates to the construction of cell lines that stably or transiently co-express a combination of T1R1 and T1R3; or T1R2 and T1R3; under constitutive or inducible conditions.

The use of these cell lines in cell-based assays to identify umami and sweet taste modulatory compounds is also provided, particularly high throughput screening assays that detect receptor activity by the use of fluorometric imaging.

2. Description of the Related Art

The taste system provides sensory information about the chemical composition of the external world. Mammals are believed to have at least five basic taste modalities: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami. See, e.g., Kawamura et al., Introduction to Umami: A Basic Taste (1987); Kinnamon et al., Ann. Rev. Physiol., 54:715-31 (1992); Lindemann, Physiol. Rev., 76:718-66 (1996); Stewart et al. Am. J. Physiol., 272:1-26(1997). Each taste modality is thought to be mediated by a distinct protein receptor or receptors that are expressed in taste receptor cells found on the surface of the tongue (Lindemann, Physol. Rev. 76:718-716(1996)). The taste receptors that recognize bitter, sweet and umami taste stimuli belong to the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily (Hoon et al., Cell 96:451 (1999); Adler et al., Cell 100:693 (2000)). (Other taste modalities are believed to be mediated by ion channels.)

G protein-coupled receptors mediate many other physiological functions, such as endocrine function, exocrine function, heart rate, lipolysis, and carbohydrate metabolism. The biochemical analysis and molecular cloning of a number of such receptors has revealed many basic principles regarding the function of these receptors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,188 describes how upon a ligand binding to a GPCR, the receptor undergoes a conformational change leading to activation of a heterotrimeric G protein by promoting the displacement of bound GDP by GTP on the surface of the Gα subunit and subsequent dissociation of the Gα subunit from the Gβ and Gγ subunits. The free Gα subunits and Gβγ complexes activate downstream elements of a variety of signal transduction pathways.

This invention relates to the three-member T1R class of taste-specific GPCRs. Previously, the T1R receptors were hypothesized to function as sweet taste receptors (Hoon et al., Cell 96:541-51 (1999); Kitagawa et al., Biochem Biophys Res. Commun. 283:236-42 (2001); Max et al., Nat. Genet. 28:58-63 (2001); Montmayeur et al., Nat. Neurosci. 4:412-8(2001); Sainz et al., J. Neurochem. 77:896-903 (2001)), and Nelson et al. (2001) have recently demonstrated that rat T1R2 and T1R3 act in combination to recognize sweet taste stimuli. The present invention relates to two discoveries. First, as is the case for rat T1R2/T1R3, human T1R2 and T1R3 act in combination to recognize sweet taste stimuli. Second, human T1R1 and T1R3 act in combination to recognize umami taste stimuli. Therefore, T1R2/T1R3 is likely to function as a sweet taste receptor and T1R1/T1R3 is likely to function as an umami taste receptor in mammals. The likely explanation for the functional co-dependence of T1R1 and T1R3 and the function co-dependence of T1R2 and T1R3 is that, like the structurally related GABAB receptor (Jones et al., Nature 396:5316-22 (1998); Kaupmann et al., Nature 396:683-7 (1998); White et al., Nature 396:679-82 (1998); Kuner et al., Science 283:74-77 (1999)), T1Rs function as heterodimeric complexes. However, it is alternatively possible that this functional co-dependence reflects a necessary but transient interaction that ultimately produces functionally independent monomeric or homomultimeric taste receptors.

The identification of characterization of taste receptors which function as sweet and umami receptors is significant as it will facilitate the use of these receptors in assays for identifying compounds that modulate (enhance or block) sweet and umami taste. These compounds would be useful for improving the taste and palatability of foods, beverages, medicinals for human or animal consumption. Particularly, an assay that utilizes a functional sweet receptor would allow the identification of novel sweeteners.

The present invention relates to the discovery that different combinations of T1Rs, when co-expressed, produce functional taste receptors that respond to taste stimuli. Particularly, the present invention relates to the discovery that co-expression of T1R2 and T1R3 results in a hetero-oligomeric taste receptor that responds to sweet taste stimuli. Also, the present invention relates to the discovery that the co-expression of T1R1 and T1R3 results in a hetero-oligomeric taste receptor that responds to umami taste stimuli such as monosodium glutamate.

The present invention also relates to cell lines that co-express T1R1 and T1R3, preferably human, or T1R2 and T1R3, preferably human. In preferred embodiments these cell lines will express elevated amounts of the receptors, either constitutively or inducibly. These cell lines include cells that transiently or stably express T1R1 and T1R3 or T1R2 and T1R3.

Also, the present invention provides assays, preferably high throughput screening assays, that utilize the T1R2/T1R3 taste receptor, or the T1R1/T1R3 receptor, preferably high throughput cell-based assays, to identify compounds that modulate sweet or umami taste. The invention also provides assays that include taste tests to confirm that these compounds modulate sweet or umami taste.

Toward that end, it is an object of the invention to provide a family of mammalian G protein-coupled receptors, herein referred to as T1Rs, that mediate taste perception.

It is another object of the invention to provide fragments and variants of such T1Rs that retain activity, e.g., that are activated by and/or bind sweet or umami taste stimuli.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide nucleic acid sequences or molecules that encode such T1Rs, fragments, or variants thereof.