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Expression of Trace Amine-Associated Receptors in Human Nasal Mucosa

  • Published:
Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs) have recently been identified in mouse olfactory epithelium (OE) and may be implicated in the detection of volatile amines, including pheromones. We investigated TAAR expression in human nasal mucosa, evaluating 32 nasal mucosa biopsies obtained from 16 patients with normal olfactory function undergoing routine nasal surgery. OE was identified on the basis of olfactory marker protein gene expression, and it was included in 11 samples out of 32. With the exception of TAAR1, which was detected at trace levels in a few samples of both groups, TAAR expression was limited to OE. TAAR5 was expressed in all OE samples at levels ranging from 15 to 1,480 copies/50 ng cDNA; TAAR8 was detected in 5 OE samples at trace levels and in another 5 OE samples at levels ranging from 11 to 33 cDNA copies/50 ng RNA; TAAR9, TAAR2, and TAAR5 were expressed at trace levels in 5, 3, and 3 OE samples, respectively. In conclusion, most TAARs, and particularly TAAR5, are selectively expressed in human OE. TAAR5 might play a significant functional role since it is known to be activated by trimethylamine, which is present in human secretions and has been implicated in behavioral responses.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

OE:

olfactory epithelium

OE+:

olfactory epithelium positive

OE-:

olfactory epithelium negative

OSAS:

obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

HRCT:

high-resolution computed tomography

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Giuseppe Naccarato from First Department of Pathology, University of Pisa, for generously performing histological analysis of nasal mucosa biopsies.

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Pisa (Cofin 2007, RZ).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Pisa, Dip. di Scienze dell’Uomo e dell’Ambiente, via Roma 55, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Vittoria Carnicelli & Riccardo Zucchi

  2. Department of Neuroscience, ENT Unit, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Amelia Santoro, Stefano Sellari-Franceschini & Stefano Berrettini

Authors
  1. Vittoria Carnicelli
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  2. Amelia Santoro
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  3. Stefano Sellari-Franceschini
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  4. Stefano Berrettini
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  5. Riccardo Zucchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vittoria Carnicelli.

Additional information

Vittoria Carnicelli and Amelia Santoro have equally contributed to this work.

Electronic Supplementary Materials

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Suppl Fig. 1

A Agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products of OMP, hTAAR1, 5, 6, 8, 9 and HPRT, obtained by cDNA of samples 8T, 10S, and 14C. Positive samples are flanked by correspondent negative retrotranscription controls (rt−). Human genomic DNA was used as a positive control (gDNA). c−: negative controls of the PCR reaction. MW: molecular weight standard. In OMP and HPRT panels, PCR products of cDNAs from lymphocytes (LY) and tonsils (TO) are also shown. B The upper panel shows gel electrophoresis of TAAR2 amplicon obtained from genomic DNA. The other two panels represent real time amplification (middle panel) and melting curve (lower panel) graphics of gDNA (purple) and of the negative retrotranscription controls for samples 1T, 3S, and 3T (blue). The blue and black (PCR negative control) melting peaks represent low level primer dimer formation, which is irrelevant for the analysis (Ct > 40) (GIF 56 kb)

High resolution image (TIFF 9875 kb)

Suppl Table1

Distribution of TAAR gene expression in olfactory epithelium (DOC 29 kb)

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Carnicelli, V., Santoro, A., Sellari-Franceschini, S. et al. Expression of Trace Amine-Associated Receptors in Human Nasal Mucosa. Chem. Percept. 3, 99–107 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-010-9075-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-010-9075-z

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