Quantitative study on cell types in adult mouse taste buds

Taste buds are peripheral sensory organs that respond to a wide variety of sapid chemicals. Recent studies showed that taste bud cells (TBCs), constituent cells of taste buds, may form cell-to-cell communication to transmit taste information to taste nerves. In this study, I showed two types of TBCs in a single taste bud: type II, expressing taste receptors, and type III cells, forming synapses with taste nerves. The ratio of type II to type III cells was 5 to 1. This ratio may be important for signal transduction within taste buds.