Patent ID: 7932058

Claim:
An in vitro method for identifying a compound that modulates the activity of a human or non-human gene putatively encoding a polypeptide involved in salty taste perception in a human or primate comprising: (i) identifying a set of human or primate genes which are expressed in human or non-human primate fungiform taste cells but which are not expressed in lingual cells (ii) of the genes identified in (i) identifying a set of genes which are not expressed in taste cells which express umami, sweet, bitter, or sour taste receptors or markers of these cells (T1Rs or T2Rs, TRPM5, and PKD2L1/PKD1L3); (iii) determining which of said identified taste specific genes in (ii) is expressed at higher levels in cells comprised in the top half of the taste bud than in cells in the bottom of the taste bud and based on this outcome selecting the identified taste specific gene which are expressed more in the top half of the taste bud cells for further analysis as a potential salty taste receptor encoding gene; (iv) reviewing the list of genes identified in step (iii) and selecting from these genes those of which encode sodium permeable ion channels and selecting from these genes a set of genes which is contained in Table 3 for further testing as a putative salty taste gene, (v) expressing in a test cell at least one of said genes identified in (iv) and contacting the test cell with at least one compound and identifying the compound as a putative salty taste blocker or enhancer if it affects sodium conductance or sodium transport by the ion channel encoded by said at least one gene.