Sweetness-induced activation of membrane dipole potential in STC-1 taste cells

•We utilized STC-1 cells affect membrane properties in response to stimulation by various sweeteners.•We describe a technical strategy to study the function of sweet taste receptors or other GPCRs.

The biological functions of cell membranes strongly influence the binding and transport of molecular species. We developed STC-1 cell line stably expressing the sweet taste receptor (T1R2/T1R3), and explored the possible correlation between sweeteners and membrane dipole potential of STC-1 cells. In this study, sweetener-induced dipole potential activation was elucidated using a fluorescence-based measurement technique, by monitoring the voltage sensitive probe Di-8-ANEPPS using a dual wavelength ratiometric approach. It indicated that the presence of sweeteners resulted in cell membrane dipole potential change, and interaction of artificial sweeteners with taste cells resulted in a greater reduction in potential compared with natural sweeteners. Our work presents a newly developed approach using a fluorescence-based measurement technique to study sweetener-induced dipole potential activation of STC-1 cells. This new approach could be used as a complementary tool to study the function of sweet taste receptors or other GPCRs and helps to understand the basis sweetness mechanism.