哥伦比亚大学Charles S. Zuker研究小组取得一项新突破。他们揭示了人类甜蜜的结构。相关论文于2025年5月7日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《细胞》杂志上。

该课题组研究人员描述了人类甜味受体与两种最广泛主题的人造甜味剂-三氯蔗糖和阿斯巴甜结合的低温电子显微镜（cryo-EM）结构。他们的研究结果揭示了甜味检测的结构基础，为单一受体如何介导对如此广泛的甜味化合物的所有反应提供了见解，并为设计一代由人类受体结构提供信息的味觉调节剂开辟了独特的可能性。

据了解，在人类中，甜味的检测和最终感知始于口腔，在口腔中，味觉受体细胞（TRCs）致力于感知甜味，与糖、人造甜味剂和其他甜味化学物质相互作用。人类甜味TRCs在其细胞表面表达一种甜味受体，该受体启动了一系列信号传导事件，导致它们对甜味刺激产生强烈的吸引力。

附：英文原文

Title: The structure of human sweetness

Author: Zhang Juen, Zhengyuan Lu, Ruihuan Yu, Andrew N. Chang, Brian Wang, Anthony W.P. Fitzpatrick, Charles S. Zuker

Issue&Volume: 2025-05-07

Abstract: In humans, the detection and ultimately the perception of sweetness begin in the oral cavity, where taste receptor cells (TRCs) dedicated to sweet-sensing interact with sugars, artificial sweeteners, and other sweet-tasting chemicals. Human sweet TRCs express on their cell surface a sweet receptor that initiates the cascade of signaling events responsible for our strong attraction to sweet stimuli. Here, we describe the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the human sweet receptor bound to two of the most widely used artificial sweeteners—sucralose and aspartame. Our results reveal the structural basis for sweet detection, provide insights into how a single receptor mediates all our responses to such a wide range of sweet-tasting compounds, and open up unique possibilities for designing a generation of taste modulators informed by the structure of the human receptor.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.04.021

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00456-8