Affiliations
Acting Director and President, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Associate Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Education
Ph.D., Biology, University of Pennsylvania
M.Sc., Nutrition, University of Massachusetts
Research Summary
The health of the biological systems we use for detecting tastes and odors is paramount to insure optimal health and well being, and these systems are now known to be used not only for sensing the external environment but the internal chemical milieu as well. Their importance for survival is underscored by their remarkable regenerative ability, which helps to insure function in the face of exposure to harsh environments, whether externally facing in the nose or mouth, or internally facing, such as in the GI tract or lung. Cell-based tools are used to understand the development and function of chemosensory receptor cells and to leverage this understanding through multidisciplinary collaborations to address health challenges in the prevention and management of health conditions related to weight management and metabolic status, aging and neurological disorders.
Keywords
taste, olfaction, nutrition, cell culture, transduction, aging, neurodegenerative disease, obesity
Representative Publications
Breslin PAS, Izumi A, Tharp A, Ohkuri T, Yokoo Y, Flammer LJ, Rawson NE, and Margolskee RF (2021) Evidence that human oral glucose detection involves a sweet taste pathway and a glucose transporter pathway. PLoS ONE 16(10): e0256989. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256989
Erik Schwiebert, Yi Wang, Ranhui Xi, Katarzyna Choma, John Streiff, Linda J. Flammer, Natasha Rivers, Mehmet Hakan Ozdener, Robert F. Margolskee, Carol M. Christensen, Nancy E. Rawson, Peihua Jiang and Paul A. S. Breslin (2021) 6-Methylflavone blocks bitterness of tenofovir. Molecular Pharmacology 99 (5) 319-327; https://doi.org/10.1124/molpharm.120.000071
Lin C, Colquitt L, Wise P, Breslin PAS, Rawson NE, Genovese F, Maina I, Joseph P, Fomuso L, Slade L, Brooks D, Miclo A, Hayes JE, Sullo A, Reed DR. (2020) Chem Senses. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjaa036. Online ahead of print.
Ozdener MH, AI Spielman and NE Rawson. Method for culture and maintenance of long term primary human fungiform taste cells. Protocol Exchange (2017) Published online 31 July 2017. https://www.nature.com/protocolexchange/protocols/6041.
Harris R, Grobman, ME, Allen, MJ, Schachtel J Rawson N, Bennett B Ledyayev J, Hopewell B, Coates JC, Reinero CR, TE Lever. Standardization of videofluoroscopic swallow study protocol to investigate dysphagia in dogs. J. Vet. Med. 31(2):383-393 (2017).
Hanson M, Jojola S, Rawson NE, Crowe M, Laska M. (2016) Facial expressions and other behavioral responses to pleasant and unpleasant tastes in cats (Felis silvestris catus). Appl Anim Behav Sci. 181, 129-136.
Borgmann-Winter KE, Wang HY, Ray R, Willis BR, Moberg PJ, Rawson NE, Gur RE, Turetsky BI, Hahn CG. (2016) Altered G-Protein coupling in olfactory neuroepithelial cells from patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 42, 377-85.
