Figure 7
Response profiles of tracheal epithelial cells to bitter tastants and artificial sweeteners. (a) Representative calcium transients recorded from epithelial cells stimulated with 5 mM denatonium or artificial sweeteners (20 mM sucralose, 10 mM saccharin and 20 mM acesulfame-K). Each trace represents a different cell. (b) Heat map of normalized change in fluorescence intensity following stimulation with the indicated compounds. Thin black lines indicate divisions among cells with different response profiles. Only epithelial cells responsive to one or both of the tested compounds are represented. (c) Venn diagram of response overlap for cells that responded to denatonium and/or sucralose, or to denatonium and/or saccharin. Acesulfame-K and denatonium activated distinct populations of epithelial cells.
