Attempt to develop taste bud models in three-dimensional culture.

Taste buds are the end organs of taste located in the gustatory papillae, which occur on the surface of the oral cavity. The goal of the present study was to establish a culture model mimicking the lingual taste bud of the mouse. To this end, three cell lines were employed: taste bud-derived cell lines (TBD cell lines), a lingual epithelial cell-derived cell line (20A cell line), and a mesenchymal cell-derived cell line (TMD cell line).

Establishment of clonal cell lines of taste buds from a p53(-/-) mouse tongue.

A taste bud is a sensory organ and consists of 50-100 spindle-shaped cells. The cells function as taste acceptors. They have characteristics of both epithelial and neuronal cells.