1974 D.M.D., University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Tirgu Mures, Romania
1982 Cert. in Oral Surg., Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
1985 M.S., University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
1988 Ph.D., University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Peripheral mechanisms of bitter and sour taste.
- Smoke prevention in children
Peripheral Mechanisms of Taste Perception
We are interested in the peripheral mechanisms of taste transduction, primarily that of the bitter and sour taste. We study taste signal transduction mechanisms using a Quench Flow Module, and by monitoring generation of second messengers such as cAMP, IP3 and cGMP that accumulate in taste cells within milliseconds after gustatory stimulation.
We are also interested in making an impact on the health of children who are exposed to the temptation of smoking. We developed a scratch and sniff card which mimicks the odor of a smoker's breath and nicotine-stained finger. We are testing these cards in the pediatric clinic of NYU and hope to impact on the 8-14 year old chidren, 17% of whom will pick up smoking by age 13.
Relevant Publications on Taste:
Spielman, A.I., Brand, J.G. (Editors). Experimental Cell Biology of Taste and Olfaction. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 437, 1995.
Spielman, A.I., Nagai, H., Sunavala, G., Dasso, M., Boekhoff, I., Breer, H., Huque, T., Whitney, G., Brand, J.G. Rapid kinetics of second messenger formation in bitter taste, Am. J. Physiology, (Cell Physiology), 270 (1996): C926-C931.
Spielman, A.I. Chemosensory function and dysfunction. Critical Reviews in Oral Biology and Medicine, 9 (1998): 267-291.
L. Huang, Y. G. Shanker, J. Dubauskaite, J.Z. Zheng, W. Yan, S. Rosenzweig, Spielman, A.I., M. Max, R.F. Margolskee. Ggamma13, a novel G protein gamma subunit expressed in gustducin-positive taste receptor cells, mediates IP3 responses to bitter denatonium. Nature Neurosci. 2 (1999): 1055-1062.
Yan, W., Sunavala, G., Rosenzweig, S., Dasso, M., Brand, J.G. and Spielman, A.I. Bitter taste Transduced by PLC b2-dependant use in IP3 and a-gustducin-dependant fall in cyclic nucleotides. Am. J. Physiol., 280 (2001): C742 - C751.
Rossier, O., Cao, J., Huque, T., Spielman, A.I., Feldman, R.I., Medrano, J.F., Brand, J.G. and le Coutre, J. (2004). Analysis of a Human Fungiform Papillae cDNA Library and Identification of Taste-related Genes. Chemical Senses, 29: 13-23. (DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjh002).
Naim M., Huang, L., Spielman, A.I., Shaul, M.E. and Aliluiko, A. (2006). Stimulation of taste cells by sweet taste compounds: receptors, downstream signal components, and the implications to sweet taste quality, in Optimising Sweet Taste in Foods, Ed. W. Spillane, Woodhead Publishing. p.3-29.
Spielman, AI. (2007). Taste Disorders. In: Clinician's Guide to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Salivary Gland and Chemosensory Disorders, P.Fox Ed. (In press).
Spielman, A.I., Yan, W., Brand, J.G. (2007) Chemosensory systems. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, http://www.els.net. Hampshir, U.K.: McMillan Publishers, In press.
Naim M., Huang, L., Spielman, A.I., Shaul, M.E. and Peri, I. (2007). Permeation of amphipathic sweeteners into taste-bud cells and their interactions with post-receptor signaling components: Possible implications for sweet taste quality. In ACS Symposium Proceedings. In Press.
