Molecular mechanisms of the action of miraculin, a taste-modifying protein

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• 作者：Takumi Misaka ; ^{amisaka@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp}
• 关键词：GPCR ; G protein-coupled receptor ; hT1R ; human T1R ; MCL ; miraculin
• 刊名：Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：March, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：24
• 期：3
• 页码：222-225
• 全文大小：600 K

文摘

Miraculin (MCL) is a homodimeric protein isolated from the fruits of Richadella dulcifica, a shrub native to West Africa. Although it is flat in taste at neutral pH, MCL has taste-modifying activity in which sour stimuli produce a sweet perception. Once MCL enters the mouth, strong sweetness can be detected for more than 1 h each time we taste a sour solution. While the human sweet taste receptor (hT1R2-hT1R3) has been identified, the molecular mechanisms underlying the taste-modifying activity of MCL remain unclear. Recently, experimental evidence has been published demonstrating the successful quantitative evaluation of the acid-induced sweetness of MCL using a cell-based assay system. The results strongly suggested that MCL binds hT1R2-hT1R3 as an antagonist at neutral pH and functionally changes into an agonist at acidic pH. Since sweet-tasting proteins may be used as low-calorie sweeteners because they contain almost no calories, it is expected that MCL will be used in the near future as a new low-calorie sweetener or to modify the taste of sour fruits.