Figure 5.
Estrogen enhancement of fatty acid responses is dependent upon G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER1). A: representative traces of [Ca2+]i were recorded in taste cells during bath stimulation of linoleic acid (LA; 10 µM) in the absence or presence of estradiol (E2; 10 nM) and the GPER1 agonist, G-1 (100 nM) and after brief pretreatment with saline or the GPER1 antagonist, G-15 (1 µM). B: fungiform taste cells were stimulated with LA in absence or presence of E2 and G-1. Before stimulation, taste cells were pretreated with G-15 (1 µM) for 60 s. Area under the curve (AUC) measurements were calculated during stimulus response. All data are presented as means ± SE. C: immunostaining of fungiform taste papillae taste buds showing specific labeling of phospholipase Cβ2 (PLCβ2; green) and GPER1 (red); GPER1 proteins are present in PLCβ2-positive cells similar to that found in the circumvallate papillae (Fig. 2A). *P < 0.05, ***,P < 0.001, ns, Not significant.