Taste papillae and taste buds are specialized sensory organs composed of taste cells that transduce gustatory stimuli into neural signals essential for taste perception. The development and maintenance of these organs are highly complex processes regulated by intricate molecular signaling networks. The long-term goal of the Liu Lab is to address fundamental questions regarding how taste buds develop and are maintained, and how taste cell differentiation from stem and progenitor cells is regulated. We employ transgenic, molecular, and cellular biology approaches, both in vivo and ex vivo, to investigate the mechanisms underlying taste cell differentiation and tissue homeostasis.
Our major recent achievements include: (1) the discovery of a previously unrecognized stem/progenitor population that primarily gives rise to neuronal-like type III taste bud cells; (2) the demonstration that mesenchymal signaling is required for taste papilla differentiation through BMP signaling–dependent protein production; and (3) the establishment of a mouse model that recapitulates taste bud loss observed in patients with Familial Dysautonomia.
Current research directions focus on: (1) localizing newly identified taste bud progenitors and elucidating the molecular regulation of their differentiation; (2) defining the genetic programs and signaling pathways that mediate mesenchymal–epithelial interactions required for taste bud homeostasis; and (3) uncovering the mechanisms responsible for taste bud degeneration in Familial Dysautonomia.
