Immortalized Human Fungiform Taste Cells-SV40

Immortalized human fungiform taste cells-SV40 (HTC/SV40) are generated by introducing the SV40 large T antigen into primary cells derived from human fungiform papillae. This approach overcomes the scarcity, limited lifespan, and donor variability of primary human taste cells, providing a continuous, scalable, and reproducible in vitro model.

These cells are designed to preserve key features of taste receptor cells, including expression of TAS1R and TAS2R receptor families, GNAT3 (gustducin), PLCβ2, IP3R3, TRPM5, and epithelial/taste progenitor markers. Depending on the subset, they can support functional studies of sweet, umami, bitter, sour, and salt transduction using calcium imaging, cAMP/ATP measurement, or electrophysiology.

Advantages include human relevance, indefinite expansion, consistent batch performance, and compatibility with high-throughput screening, siRNA/CRISPR perturbation, immunostaining, qPCR, and Western blot. They enable mechanistic studies of taste receptor signaling, ligand specificity, and taste modulation, and support discovery of sweeteners, umami enhancers, bitter blockers, salt substitutes, and taste-masking excipients. They are also useful for modeling taste dysfunction associated with infection (e.g., SARS-CoV-2), inflammation, aging, and metabolic disease.

Limitations: Immortalized cultures may not fully recapitulate the heterogeneous taste bud microenvironment or all primary cell phenotypes. Validation against primary human fungiform taste cells is recommended when physiological fidelity is critical. Overall, HTC/SV40 offer a practical, human-relevant, and scalable platform for taste biology and chemosensory translational research.