Abstract
•Transmission from taste buds to afferent nerves is via ATP, acting on P2X purinoceptors. Yet, GABAA receptors are also plentiful on the same fibers.•Do peripheral sensory neurons for taste employ any of the GABA-mediated mechanisms seen in hearing, balance, pain or mechanosensation?•Proposed roles for GABA include acute or tonic modulation of sensory signals.•GABAA receptors may also be involved in trafficking and stabilizing purinoceptors on the surface of gustatory afferents in taste buds.
In the peripheral neurons and circuits for hearing, balance, touch and pain, GABA plays diverse and important roles. In some cases, GABA is an essential player in the maintenance of sensory receptors and afferent neurons. In other instances, GABA modulates the sensory signal before it reaches CNS neurons. And in yet other instances, tonic GABA-mediated signals set the resting tone and excitability of afferent neurons. GABAA receptors are present on gustatory afferent neurons that carry taste signals from taste buds to central circuits in the brainstem. Yet, the functional significance of these receptors is unexplored. Here, I outline some of the roles of GABA in other peripheral sensory systems. I then consider whether similar functions may be ascribed to GABA signaling in the taste periphery.
