Hi everyone, my name is Abie and I am a 3rd-year Physiology student. I am currently doing a summer research project and I’ve just come on here to tell you a little bit about my project. Despite COVID-19, I am fortunate enough to be able to work on my research project remotely over the past 5 weeks.
Obesity is one of the most significant global health issues today. It is caused by overconsumption of high fat and sugar foods over a long time. This leads to excess weight gain which causes an increased risk of developing other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus to name a few. My project is about how taste buds change on a High-Fat Diet (HFD). A better understanding of how taste buds change on this diet can give us further insight into the effects of HFD and obesity on taste perception and food choice.
Taste buds primarily detect sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami taste qualities. There are three main types of taste bud cells. Firstly, Type I cells play a supportive role, Type II cells detect sweet, bitter and umami tastants and lastly Type III cells detect sour tastants such as citric acid. The focus of my project is on Type III cells; these cells are unique as they are the only type of taste cells to form synapses. The type III cells release the neurotransmitter GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) when depolarised. GABA binds to its receptor on Type II taste cells and inhibits the release of other neurotransmitters and modulators such as ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). It has been proven that a high-fat diet causes a loss of taste bud cells which leads to a decrease in Type III cells and therefore a reduction in the expression of GABA. My project investigates how quickly this reduction in GABA expression takes place. This reduction is quantified by comparing GABA expression of mice that have been on an HFD for 1 week to mice that have been on an HFD for 4 weeks.
At this point, I’m currently collating the results by counting the number of taste bud cells in slices of the circumvallate papillae that have been stained with GAD67 (a marker for GABA). Over this period, I have learnt how to use the ImageJ software to count cells and I’ve been reviewing the literature on this topic. Undertaking this project has been an invaluable experience for me and I’m glad I was able to participate in this during the holidays despite COVID-19 restrictions.
In the wider university community, I have been involved with several societies including the African Caribbean Society and First Love. In my spare time, I like to sing and draw digital illustrations.
Thank you all for reading. Hope you stay safe and enjoy your day!
