Aging is associated with a modality-specific decline in taste

Elizabeth B Brown; Evan Lloyd; Rose Riley; Zohre Panahidizjikan; Alfonso Martin-Peña; Samuel McFarlane; Anupama Dahanukar; Alex C Keene

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.110919

Aging is associated with a modality-specific decline in taste

iScience. 2024 Sep 10;27(10):110919. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110919. eCollection 2024 Oct 18.

Authors

Elizabeth B Brown^{1

2}, Evan Lloyd^{1

2}, Rose Riley¹, Zohre Panahidizjikan¹, Alfonso Martin-Peña³, Samuel McFarlane⁴, Anupama Dahanukar^{5

6}, Alex C Keene⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
² Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
⁵ Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
⁶ Department of Molecular, Cell & Systems Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
⁷ Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.

Abstract

Deficits in chemosensory processing are associated with healthy aging, as well as numerous neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a powerful model for studying chemosensation, aging, and aging-related pathologies, yet the effects of aging and neurodegeneration on taste function remain largely unexplored. Aging impaired response to sugars, but not medium-chain fatty acids that are sensed by a shared population of neurons. Selective expression of the human amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide phenocopied the effects of aging. Functional imaging of gustatory axon terminals revealed reduced response to sugar, but not fatty acids. Axonal innervation of the fly taste center was largely intact in aged flies; however, axonal innervation was reduced upon expression of Aβ. A comparison of transcript expression within the sugar-sensing taste neurons revealed age-related changes in 66 genes. Together, these findings suggest that different mechanisms underly taste deficits in aged and AD model flies.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience.

Abstract

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