Phosphorus Taste Involves T1R2 and T1R3.

Rodents consume solutions of phosphates and pyrophosphates in preference to water. Recently, we found that the preference for trisodium pyrophosphate (Na3HP2O7) was greater in T1R3 knockout (KO) mice than wild-type (WT) controls, suggesting that T1R3 is a pyrophosphate detector. We now show that this heightened Na3HP2O7 preference of T1R3 KO mice extends to disodium phosphate (Na2HPO4), disodium and tetrasodium pyrophosphate (Na2H2PO4 and Na4H2PO4), a tripolyphosphate (Na5P3O10), a non-sodium phosphate [(NH4)2HPO4], and a non-sodium pyrophosphate (K4P2O7) but not to non-P salts with large anions (sodium gluconate, acetate, or propionate). Licking rates for Na3HP2O7 are higher in T1R2 KO mice than WT controls; Na3HP2O7 preference scores are increased even more in T1R2 KO mice and T1R2+T1R3 double KO mice than in T1R3 KO mice; preference scores for Na3HP2O7 are normal in T1R1 KO mice. These results implicate each subunit of the T1R2+T1R3 dimer in the behavioral response to P-containing taste compounds.