Keynote Speakers

Dr. Liquan Huang, Professor

College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Biography: Dr. Liquan Huang received a Bachelor degree in Biology and a Master degree in Molecular Genetics from Zhejiang University, and Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, respectively. He then studied at Yale University and obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology. He carried out his postdoctoral research at a Howard Hughes Medical Institute laboratory at New York University, and established his own laboratory at the Monell Chemical Senses Center affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. After returning to Zhejiang University, he has been supervising a chemosensory biology laboratory. His research has been focused on the biology of taste and smell, which has been funded by NIH, NSFC, MOST and US-Israel Binational Science Foundation. His findings have been published in high-impact journals such as Nature Genetics, Nature Neuroscience, PNAS, and eLife.

Topic: The Role of Taste Signaling Proteinsin the Oral Cavity and Beyond

Abstract: Taste is one of the five special senses humans possess. Sweet, bitter, umami, sour and salty are the five primary taste qualities that are evaluated before food is ingested. Taste sensation begins at taste buds in the oral cavity. Interactions of sapid molecules in foodstuffs with receptors on taste bud cells initiate taste signaling cascades. Sweet, bitter and umami tastants are detected by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) whereas sour and salty molecules are sensed by ion channels. Humans have one dimeric GPCR each for sweet and umami tasting substances, respectively, and 26 monomeric GPCRs for bitter tasting substances. Activation of these GPCRs triggers G protein-mediated signal transduction, followed by the release of the transmitter ATP onto the afferent nerve fibers. As an end organ of the peripheral gustatory system, taste buds undergo initial intragemmal signal processing, which can be modulated by hormones, cytokines as well as transmitters from the nervous system. More recently, taste receptors and their downstream signaling proteins have been found in the extraoral organs, including the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, respiratory airways, lung, gallbladder and thymus. Particularly, a type of rare epithelial cells, tuft cells, resembles most to some taste bud cells in terms of gene expression profiles. These tuft cells can utilize taste GPCRs and other signaling proteins to sense noxious stimuli and invading pathogens, such as allergens, bacteria, protists, and helminths, and initiate innate immune responses to eliminate these agents. Under some circumstances, however, tuft cells can also play a protective role by preventing cell death or facilitating inflammation resolution to avoid cytokine storms. Further investigations on taste bud cells, tuft cells and other taste signaling protein-expressing cells may reveal more functions of these taste signal proteins in regulating immune responses and modulating neuronal functions.