Background of the antigen
T2R16 is a 291 amino acid multi-pass membrane protein that belongs to the G-protein coupled receptor T2R family. Acting in the oral cavity and the gastrointestinal tract, T2R16 is a gustducin-coupled receptor that is implicated in the perception of bitter compounds. T2R16 mediates responses to certain taste through PLC ∫2, a phospholipase C selectively expressed in taste tissue, and the calcium-regulated cation channel TRPM5. Expressed in a subset of gustducin-positive taste receptor cells of the tongue and epithelia, T2R16 confers bitter perception of salicin to non-taster mice. The gene that encodes T2R16 consists of 996 bases and maps to human chromosome 7q31. Chromosome 7 houses over 1,000 genes, comprises nearly 5% of the human genome and has been linked to Osteogenesis imperfecta, Pendred syndrome, Lissencephaly, Citrullinemia and Shwachman-Diamond syndrome. The Lys-172 polymorphism in T2R16 is associated with genetic susceptibility to alcoholism.
