【JASTS Seminar Series】Tian Hua博士ご講演のお知らせ

大変お世話になっております。
日本味と匂学会（JASTS）では、嗅覚・味覚研究のトップランナーにオンラインで講演をいただくJASTS Seminar Seriesを開催しております。

第9回セミナーはTian Hua博士にご講演いただくことが決まりました。
講演者：Dr. Tian Hua（iHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University）

講演タイトル：

Structural and functional studies of human taste receptors

Abstract:
Taste is a fundamental sensory modality that plays an important role in human life, guiding food choice and dietary behaviors. Humans perceive five basic taste stimuli: sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami, with sweet taste being essential for energy homeostasis. Three of these taste modalities – sweet, umami and bitter – are mediated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Specifically, sweet and umami tastes are detected by type 1 receptors (TAS1Rs) which belong to class C GPCRs, while the bitter tastes are sensed by type 2 receptors (TAS2Rs), categorized as class T GPCRs. Both receptor types are expressed in specialized taste receptor cells (TRCs) within the taste bud and signal primarily through Gα-gustducin, initiating downstream physiological responses.

This talk will present our recent structural and functional studies on human taste receptors. We determined the structures of several bitter taste receptors (TAS2R46, TAS2R14, and TAS2R16) and the sweet taste receptor (TAS1R2‑TAS1R3) in complex with different agonists and G proteins. These structures reveal the molecular basis for ligand recognition, including unique binding modes such as cholesterol occupying the orthosteric site in TAS2R14 and moiety-specific recognition of β‑glucopyranosides by TAS2R16. They also uncover distinct activation mechanisms and G‑protein coupling modes across the TAS2R family and provide the full-length architecture of the human sweet taste receptor. Our findings deepen the understanding of chemosensory signaling and offer a framework for therapeutic targeting of taste receptors.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09302-6 NATURE. 2025.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07569-9 NATURE. 2024.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo1633 SCIENCE. 2022.

本セミナーシリーズはJASTS会員だけでなく非会員の方々のご参加も、歓迎いたします。

皆様の職場・ご自宅にて、世界の一流研究者による最新の研究成果についての講演をお気軽にご視聴ください。奮ってのご参加をお待ちしております。

主催：日本味と匂学会　URL (https://jasts.com/)
JASTSセミナーシリーズワーキンググループ
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