# Role of the lingual GLP-1 system in sweet taste detection

Savanah Buiret, Corinne Leloup, Sandrine Chometton

► To cite this version:

Savanah Buiret, Corinne Leloup, Sandrine Chometton. Role of the lingual GLP-1 system in sweet taste detection. Chemical Senses, 2025, 50 (SI), pp.bjaf055.105. 10.1093/chemse/bjaf055/8406990. hal-05474495

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Submitted on 4 Feb 2026

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# ABSTRACTS

## ECRO 2025 CONFERENCE

Annual Meeting of the European Chemoreception Research Organization, ECRO 2025
Bizkaia Aretoa, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, 15-18 September 2025

**Organizing committee:** Laura López-Mascaraque, Pablo Chamero, Enrique Lanuza, Gaskon Ibarretxe, Carolina Gómez-Díaz, Carlos Matute, Almudena Ramos, Laura Gómez-Santos, Ainara Vallejo, Lucía Jiménez-Rojo, José Ramón Pineda

**abstract citation id:** bjaf055.001

## 1. KEYNOTE LECTURES

### Invisible Heritage: smells as cultural records

Cecilia Bembibre¹

¹University College London, London, United Kingdom

Smell holds deep cultural and historical meaning, yet it has long been overlooked in heritage practice. Olfactory heritage is an emerging field that recognises and protects the scents associated with places, objects, and traditions. These odours are often transient, but they carry strong connections to identity, memory, and lived experience. Preserving them supports resilience and sensory continuity in times of environmental, social, and material change.

In recent years, through my work at University College London and with partners across the world, I have developed methods for identifying and documenting historically significant smells. This includes chemically analysing volatile compounds in materials such as historic potpourri, ancient embalming substances, and old manuscripts. We have also worked with museums and heritage professionals to interpret and communicate these smells through public exhibitions and participatory experiences.

But this work isn't only about conservation. Olfactory heritage connects science with human experience. These real-world smells help researchers study how memory works, how emotions are triggered, and how the brain processes complex information. They offer new ways to explore how the senses work together, and how cultural context shapes perception.

Our findings show that olfactory heritage contributes to cultural sustainability by safeguarding sensory knowledge that might otherwise be lost. It helps communities maintain links to past environments, traditions, and everyday practices. Through reconstructed scents and archival approaches, olfactory heritage supports intergenerational knowledge transfer, enabling archives beyond written records and images.

At a time when many valuable smells are at risk, preserving scent offers a new way to protect cultural diversity. It adds value to heritage conservation by considering the sensory dimension

of place, and it invites new cross-disciplinary collaborations across chemistry, perfumery, computer science, history, and the arts.

In this presentation, I will share examples of recent research and practical applications in the field, as well as ways in which olfactory heritage can contribute to other disciplines. It will make the case for recognising smell as part of our intangible heritage, and for including olfactory knowledge in how we care for and interpret the cultural record.

**abstract citation id:** bjaf055.002

### Neurogenesis for adult olfactory circuits

Isabel Fariñas¹

¹CIBERNED & Instituto de Biotecnología y Biomedicina, Universidad de Valencia

No abstract available.

**abstract citation id:** bjaf055.003

### Sensing with pheromones in freely moving mice

Lisa Stowers¹

¹The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Unites States

No abstract available.

**abstract citation id:** bjaf055.004

### Brain myelin as an energy source in health and disease

Carlos Matute¹

¹CIBERNED, IIE Biobizkaia, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Spain

No abstract available.
differed significantly between MCI and AD. Post hoc comparisons indicated that MCI participants outperformed AD participants in both congruent and incongruent conditions. A main effect of congruence indicated that odor identification performance varied with odor-color congruency. Post hoc comparisons revealed that MCI participants performed significantly better in the congruent than in the incongruent condition. Similarly, AD participants revealed better performance in the congruent condition. The interaction between diagnosis and congruence was not significant, indicating that the effect of congruence on odor identification performance was similar across diagnostic groups. These findings suggest that the newly developed color-modulated olfactory test may serve as a sensitive screening tool for detection of neurodegenerative disorders, with a potential to differentiate between stages of cognitive decline.

abstract citation id: bjaf055.103

## SELECTED SHORT TALKS

### Channel synapse mediates neurotransmission of airway protective chemoreflexes

Akiyuki Taruno¹

¹Department of Molecular Cell Physiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine. Japan

Neural reflexes to chemicals in the throat protect the airway from aspiration and infection, which can be life-threatening by causing pulmonary disorders. Mechanistic understanding of these reflexes remains premature, exemplified by chronic cough—a sensitized cough reflex—being a prevalent unmet clinical need. Here, in mice, a whole-body search for channel synapses— featuring calcium homeostasis modulator (CALHM) 1/3 channel-mediated neurotransmitter (ATP) release¹⁻⁴—and single-cell transcriptomics uncovered subclasses of the *Pou2f3*⁺ chemosensory cell family in the throat communicating with vagal neurons via this synapse: type II taste cells in hypopharyngeal taste buds and a subset of tuft cells in the laryngeal epithelium. They express voltage-gated Na⁺ channels and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) for noxious chemicals, Tas2Rs. Tas2R stimulation exoked action potentials in these cells, as demonstrated by two-photon membrane voltage imaging, and swallow and cough-like expulsive reflexes in the hypopharynx and larynx, respectively. These reflexes were abolished by *Calhm3* or *Pou2f3* knockout and could be triggered by targeted optogenetic stimulation. Furthermore, mold aeroallergen (*Alternaria alternata* extract) exposure augmented CALHM3-dependent expulsive reflex. This study⁵ identifies *Pou2f3*⁺ epithelial cells with channel synapses as chemosensory end organs of airway protective reflexes and sites of their hyperresponsiveness, advancing mechanistic understanding of airway defense programs with distinct therapeutic potential.

**Funding:** This work was supported by JST CREST, JST PRESTO, JSPS KAKENHI, AMED BINDS, Naito Foundation, Takeda Science Foundation, Urakami Foundation, and Salt Science Research Foundation, and MEXT.

## References

1 Nature 495: 223-226, 2013

2 Neuron 98: 547-561, 2018

3 Neuron 106: 815-829, 2020

4 Sci Adv 6: eaba8105, 2020

5 Cell 188: 2687-2704, 2025

abstract citation id: bjaf055.104

### Taste regulation of immunity

Pierre-Yves Musso¹, Alix Najera Mazariegos², Darius Camp², Martine Berthelot-Grosjean³, Gérard Manière³, Romane Milleville⁴, George Alves³, Julien Royet⁴, Yaël Grosjean³, Guy Tanentzapf², Léo Sillon¹, Enisa Aruçi¹

¹CSGA, TPI team. France

²UBC. Canada

³CSGA, PERSING team. France

⁴IBDM. France

Animals use their sensory system to detect cues in their external environment and then communicate, process, and integrate, via the nervous system, these cues in order to induce a specific response. Taste is an important cue used by animals to explore their external environment and can modulate various aspects of behaviour and physiology in animals. A key ongoing challenge for animals is detecting and responding to the presence of a multitude of pathogens in their environment. However, to date, the links between the sensory system and the response to pathogenic threats remain poorly understood. Here we show that Drosophila larvae use their taste system to detect bacterial wall components in their environment and respond by modulating the activity of their cellular immune system. These results show that sensory inputs such as taste have an important role in protecting animals from bacterial infection. Overall, our findings add to the growing list of examples of crosstalk between the nervous system and the immune system and provide novel and important mechanisms for linking them.

## References

1 Detection of bacteria through taste receptors primes the cellular immune response doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.26.615243

abstract citation id: bjaf055.105

### Role of the lingual GLP-1 system in sweet taste detection

Savanah Buiret¹, Corinne Leloup¹, Sandrine Chometton¹
¹CSGA - Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro Dijon, Université Bourgogne Europe. France

Sweet taste perception is mediated in the gustatory system by the TAS1R2/TAS1R3 receptor, that responds to a wide range of sweet compounds. Recently, glucose sensors known in other parts of the body to be involved in glucose detection and glucose metabolism have been located in the taste system, but their role is still not clear. The aim of this study was thus to investigate the role of one of them, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), in modulating sweet taste sensitivity in mice.

Virogenetic silencing approaches were employed to specifically reduce the expression of the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in the tongue of adult C57BL/6J mice. Behavioral responses were then assessed using brief-access taste tests in a gustometer. A series of different sweet solutions was presented to the mouse in 10-second trials in a randomized order within a block across a 20-minute session. Three tests were performed: glucose vs fructose (GvF) solutions at three concentrations (0.316 M, 0.56 M, 1.1 M); six concentrations of glucose alone; six concentrations of fructose alone. In the GvF test, a significant difference in licking responses between glucose and fructose was observed at the intermediate 0.56M concentration in GLP-1R knockdown (KD) mice. In the fructose-only test, GLP-1R KD mice exhibited increased licking responses to 0.56 M fructose compared to control mice, while a tendency to a decrease in licking behavior was observed in the glucose-only test at 0.56 M. Virogenetic silencing of GLP-1R in the taste system appears to modulate the ability of mice to perceive sugars at an intermediate concentration, suggesting a role for the GLP-1/GLP-1R system in modulating sweet taste sensitivity. Further studies will assess the impact of GLP-1/GLP-1R signaling in TAS1R2/TAS1R3 knockout models to better understand its role in taste detection without the canonical sweet information. In addition, the potential involvement of lingual GLP-1 in systemic glucose metabolism will also be investigated.

abstract citation id: bjaf055.106

## Biomolecular and biophysical AFM probing reveals distinct binding of bitter peptide VAPFPEVF to TAS2R16 without inducing an intracellular calcium response

Phil Richter<fnref n="1" />, Sanjai Karanth<fnref n="1" />, Rita Dos Santos Natividade<fnref n="1" />, Alessandro Nicoli<fnref n="1" />, Małgorzata M. Kogut-Guenthel<fnref n="1" />, Julia Benthin<fnref n="1" />, Antonella Di Pizio<fnref n="1" />, Melanie Koehler<fnref n="1" />, Veronika Somoza<fnref n="1" />

The conventional method to investigate the activation of G-protein coupled receptors by potential agonists are heterologous cellular expression systems, such as HEK-293T<fnref n="1" />, which respond with changes in intracellular calcium levels. Since no specific sequences of bitter-tasting peptides have been identified as bitter taste receptor TAS2R16 agonists so far, we combined molecular biological and biophysical approaches in cellular and cell-free systems as well as molecular dynamics simulations to comprehensively investigate the interactions between the bitter-tasting food-derived peptide VAPFPEVF and TAS2R16. Immortalized parietal cells (HGT-1) were used as cell system as VAPFPEVF was shown to induce proton secretion via functional involvement of TAS2R16.²,³

The presented approach revealed that neither VAPFPEVF nor the known TAS2R16 agonist salicin induced a calcium mobilization in TAS2R16-overexpressing HGT-1 cells. However, both compounds stimulated proton secretion, which was amplified by TAS2R16-overexpression by up to 56.5 ± 17.9% (p ≤ 0.05) and decreased by co-application of the cAMP modulator NKY80 (p ≤ 0.05). Binding between TAS2R16 and the peptide was demonstrated in cell-based atomic force microscopy (AFM) assays, in which TAS2R16-GFP-overexpressing HGT-1 cells showed higher binding frequencies (13.4 ± 1.9%) than untransfected cells (3.5 ± 0.6%, p ≤ 0.0001). In a cell-free AFM approach, the binding of the peptide to TAS2R16 embedded in proteoliposomes was validated. Here, the number of binding events was reduced by salicin and TAS2R16 antagonist probenecid (p ≤ 0.05). Ultimately, AlphaFold multimers and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated binding of VAPFPEVF to the orthosteric site of TAS2R16.

In summary, we showed that the bitter-tasting peptide VAPFPEVF binds to TAS2R16 without inducing an intracellular calcium mobilization, thereby rendering TAS2R-activation patterns revealed from conventional heterologous expression systems as potentially incomplete.

## References

1. Meyerhof, W., Batram, C., Kuhn, C., Brockhoff, A., Chudoba, E., Bufe, B., Appendino, G., & Behrens, M. (2009). The Molecular Receptive Ranges of Human TAS2R Bitter Taste Receptors. In Chemical Senses (Vol. 35, Issue 2, pp. 157–170). Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjp092

2. Richter, P., Sebald, K., Fischer, K., Behrens, M., Schnieke, A., & Somoza, V. (2022). Bitter Peptides YFYPEL, VAPFPEVF, and YQEPVLPGVRGPFPIIV, Released during Gastric Digestion of Casein, Stimulate Mechanisms of Gastric Acid Secretion via Bitter Taste Receptors TAS2R16 and TAS2R38. In Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Vol. 70, Issue 37, pp. 11591–11602). American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c05228

3. Richter, P., Sebald, K., Fischer, K., Schnieke, A., Jilati, M., Mittermeier-Klessinger, V., & Somoza, V. (2024). Gastric digestion of the sweet-tasting plant protein thaumatin releases bitter peptides that reduce H. pylori induced pro-inflammatory IL-17A release via the TAS2R16 bitter taste receptor. In Food Chemistry (Vol. 448, p. 139157). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139157

<footnote n="1">¹Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich. Germany</footnote>