# Neurotrophin receptor regulation of adult taste bud innervation and function

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · 2020 · $395,799

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
 Taste receptor cells detect chemicals in our food and communicate this information to the
nerve fibers innervating them. Our goal is to understand the structural and functional
relationship between taste receptor cells and innervating neurons. Because taste receptor cells
undergo continuous renewal and must constantly attract and connect to nerve fibers even in the
adult, some mechanism exists to control this process. Since the neurotrophin BDNF controls
initial innervation of taste buds and is present in adult taste receptor cells, it may have this role.
BDNF also can function as a neuromodulator regulating function, so it is certainly possible that
BDNF can regulate both innervation and/or function of adult taste buds. Here we are testing the
hypothesis that BDNF signaling through its receptor, TrkB, regulates both the structural and
functional connections between taste receptor cells and ganglion neurons. The proposed
studies combine sparse cell genetic labeling with 3-dimensional analysis of the taste bud and
electrophysiology, in mice where TrkB-signaling can be blocked using a combination of
chemical and genetic approaches to: 1) determine the identity and connectivity of BDNF
expressing taste receptor cells, 2) determine the role of BDNF-TrkB-signaling in maintaining this
connectivity, and 3) determine if BDNF-TrkB signaling regulates taste function. Together, these
experiments will determine how specific taste receptor cells (BDNF-expressing) become
innervated by a subset of taste ganglion neurons (TrkB-expressing) during taste cell renewal
and will determine if BDNF-TrkB-signaling is an important gustatory system neuromodulator of
this pathway.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9955034
- **Project number:** 5R01DC007176-16
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** Robin Frances Krimm
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $395,799
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2005-03-01 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9955034

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9955034, Neurotrophin receptor regulation of adult taste bud innervation and function (5R01DC007176-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9955034. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*