Taste buds in a mouse tongue epithelium with types I, II, and III taste cells visualized by cell-type-specific fluorescent antibodies. Type II taste bud cells signal sweet, bitter, and umami tastes to the central nervous system by releasing ATP through the voltage-gated ion channel CALHM1. Researchers used a confocal microscope to capture this image, which shows all taste buds in red, type II taste buds in green, and DNA in blue.

More information about this work can be found in the Nature letter "CALHM1 ion channel mediates purinergic neurotransmission of sweet, bitter and umami tastes” by Taruno et. al.