@article {1622,
	title = {Individual differences in prefrontal cortex activity during perception of bitter taste using fNIRS methodology.},
	journal = {Chem Senses},
	volume = {35},
	year = {2010},
	month = {2010 Nov},
	pages = {801-12},
	abstract = {<p>Although bitter taste has a crucial role in nutrition by preventing the ingestion of toxic foods, there are few studies on bitter taste neuroimaging. To identify cortical areas involved in bitter taste perception and to determine if individual differences in taste sensitivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) are represented in the brain by different cortical activation patterns, we examined 48 healthy volunteers using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Participants rated the perceived intensity of filter paper disks impregnated with PROP and NaCl during the imaging procedure and were then classified as PROP tasters and nontasters. We monitored cortical activity in both the anterior and posterior regions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). No activity was detected in the anterior DLPFC in any of the participants. However, during the administration of PROP, significant cortical activation was detected in the more posterior regions of the left DLPFC and in the left and right VLPFC but only in PROP tasters. PROP nontasters showed no cortical activity in these areas. These data suggest that the prefrontal cortex is involved in the conscious perception of the bitter taste of PROP and that the pattern of activity is consistent with individual differences in the ability to taste this compound. Thus, the PROP phenotype is associated with fundamental differences in cortical taste processing.</p>},
	keywords = {Adult, Eating, Female, Food Preferences, Humans, Individuality, Male, Perception, Phenotype, Prefrontal Cortex, Propylthiouracil, Sodium Chloride, Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared, Taste, Taste Threshold, Young Adult},
	issn = {1464-3553},
	doi = {10.1093/chemse/bjq080},
	author = {Bembich, Stefano and Lanzara, Carmela and Clarici, Andrea and Demarini, Sergio and Tepper, Beverly J and Gasparini, Paolo and Grasso, Domenico L}
}
@article {1624,
	title = {Insights into the binding of Phenyltiocarbamide (PTC) agonist to its target human TAS2R38 bitter receptor.},
	journal = {PLoS One},
	volume = {5},
	year = {2010},
	month = {2010},
	pages = {e12394},
	abstract = {<p>Humans{\textquoteright} bitter taste perception is mediated by the hTAS2R subfamily of the G protein-coupled membrane receptors (GPCRs). Structural information on these receptors is currently limited. Here we identify residues involved in the binding of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and in receptor activation in one of the most widely studied hTAS2Rs (hTAS2R38) by means of structural bioinformatics and molecular docking. The predictions are validated by site-directed mutagenesis experiments that involve specific residues located in the putative binding site and trans-membrane (TM) helices 6 and 7 putatively involved in receptor activation. Based on our measurements, we suggest that (i) residue N103 participates actively in PTC binding, in line with previous computational studies. (ii) W99, M100 and S259 contribute to define the size and shape of the binding cavity. (iii) W99 and M100, along with F255 and V296, play a key role for receptor activation, providing insights on bitter taste receptor activation not emerging from the previously reported computational models.</p>},
	keywords = {Amino Acid Sequence, Calcium, Cell Line, Computational Biology, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Humans, Intracellular Space, Ligands, Models, Molecular, Molecular Sequence Data, Mutagenesis, Site-Directed, Phenylthiourea, Protein Binding, Protein Structure, Secondary, Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled},
	issn = {1932-6203},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0012394},
	author = {Biarn{\'e}s, Xevi and Marchiori, Alessandro and Giorgetti, Alejandro and Lanzara, Carmela and Gasparini, Paolo and Carloni, Paolo and Born, Stephan and Brockhoff, Anne and Behrens, Maik and Meyerhof, Wolfgang}
}
