Background

The human taste experience is the result of five basic taste qualities, that is sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. Sweet, bitter and umami are mediated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), whereas sour and salt are modulated by specialized membrane channels. Taste perception starts with the interaction between a taste-active molecule (substance) and a specialized receptor located on the taste buds at the level of the cell membrane. Once the interaction has occurred, taste receptor cells are able to transduce the information content of the chemical stimulus into nerve signals directly to the brain. Therefore, the receptor-mediated recognition of taste molecules is the first episode leading to taste perception.

Scope and approach

In this review, we provide a complete overview of in silico molecular modeling techniques applied to the study of umami, sweet and bitter taste receptors. Structure-based computational tools, usually applied to investigate the binding mode of bioactive molecules into their targets and to rationally design new drug molecules, are proven equally useful in the field of chemical senses to shed light on the molecular acknowledgment of tastants.

Key findings and conclusions

The recent computational advancements in the taste research field, and particularly the computation-driven investigations of the tastant-receptor binding, provided a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying food tastants’ sensing and could have an impressive contribution to the identification of new taste modulators in the future.

中文翻译：

---

甜味，鲜味和苦味受体：计算机分子建模方法的最新发展

背景

人类的口味体验是五种基本口味品质的结果，即甜，咸，苦，酸和鲜味。甜，苦和鲜味是由G蛋白偶联受体（GPCR）介导的，而酸和盐则由专门的膜通道调节。味觉始于味觉活性分子（物质）与位于细胞膜水平上味蕾上的专门受体之间的相互作用。一旦发生相互作用，味觉受体细胞就能够将化学刺激的信息内容转化为直接传递给大脑的神经信号。因此，受体介导的味觉分子识别是导致味觉知觉的第一个事件。

范围和方法

在这篇综述中，我们提供了用于研究鲜味，甜味和苦味受体的计算机分子建模技术的完整概述。事实证明，基于结构的计算工具通常用于研究生物活性分子与其靶标的结合模式并合理设计新的药物分子，在化学意义上同样可用于阐明促味剂分子的识别。

主要发现和结论

味觉研究领域的最新计算进展，特别是对促味剂-受体结合的计算驱动研究，提供了对食物促味剂感知基础的分子机制的更好理解，并可能对识别新的味觉调节剂做出令人印象深刻的贡献将来。