Glutamate-induced cobalt uptake reveals non-NMDA receptors in developing rat taste buds

Non-NMDA type glutamate receptors are present in rat taste buds. However, t he function of those receptors is not yet known. Developmental changes in t he glutamate receptors in taste cells may provide clues to their functional role. We used a cobalt staining technique to determine at which stage in d evelopment functional non-NMDA glutamate receptors first appeared. Cobalt-s tained taste bud cells first appeared in 20-day-old rats. The number of cob alt-stained cells increased with age and reached a maximum at 45 days. The shape of stained cells looked similar at all age groups. Cobalt-labeled cel ls appeared to be correlated with synaptic, not taste, glutamate receptors. NeuroReport 12:1715-1718 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.