TAS2R3

Summary

TAS2R3 (taste 2 receptor member 3, HGNC:14910) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 7q34, encoding Taste receptor type 2 member 3 (Q9NYW6). Gustducin-coupled receptor implicated in the perception of bitter compounds in the oral cavity and the gastrointestinal tract.

This gene encodes a member of a family of candidate taste receptors that are members of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily and that are specifically expressed by taste receptor cells of the tongue and palate epithelia. These apparently intronless taste receptor genes encode a 7-transmembrane receptor protein, functioning as a bitter taste receptor. This gene is clustered with another 3 candidate taste receptor genes in chromosome 7 and is genetically linked to loci that influence bitter perception.

Source: NCBI Gene 50831 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

• GWAS associations: 1
• Clinical variants (ClinVar): 44 total
• Druggable target: yes — 1 molecules with ChEMBL bioactivity
• MANE Select transcript: NM_016943

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

Field	Value
HGNC ID	HGNC:14910
Approved symbol	TAS2R3
Name	taste 2 receptor member 3
Location	7q34
Locus type	gene with protein product
Status	Approved
Aliases	T2R3
Ensembl gene	ENSG00000127362
Ensembl biotype	protein_coding
OMIM	604868
Entrez	50831

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 1 — 1 protein_coding

ENST00000247879

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_016943 NM_016943

CCDS: CCDS5867

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000247879 — 1 exons

Exon	Start	End
ENSE00000872185	141764097	141765197

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth broad, 86 present calls, max score 70.13.

Top tissues by expression

108 total, by Bgee expression score (0-100, higher = more expressed):

Tissue	Anatomy ID	Expression score	Quality
corpus callosum	UBERON:0002336	70.13	gold quality
colonic epithelium	UBERON:0000397	58.20	silver quality
calcaneal tendon	UBERON:0003701	56.50	gold quality
adrenal tissue	UBERON:0018303	56.49	gold quality
tonsil	UBERON:0002372	53.62	silver quality
stromal cell of endometrium	CL:0002255	49.93	silver quality
right hemisphere of cerebellum	UBERON:0014890	47.83	gold quality
right uterine tube	UBERON:0001302	47.28	gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue	UBERON:0001134	47.16	silver quality
cerebellum	UBERON:0002037	46.17	silver quality
cerebellar cortex	UBERON:0002129	46.09	silver quality
cerebellar hemisphere	UBERON:0002245	45.97	silver quality
urinary bladder	UBERON:0001255	44.43	silver quality
ovary	UBERON:0000992	44.32	gold quality
fallopian tube	UBERON:0003889	44.08	gold quality
body of uterus	UBERON:0009853	43.77	gold quality
hindlimb stylopod muscle	UBERON:0004252	43.74	silver quality
bone marrow cell	CL:0002092	43.68	gold quality
uterine cervix	UBERON:0000002	43.52	silver quality
left ovary	UBERON:0002119	42.94	gold quality
superior frontal gyrus	UBERON:0002661	42.77	silver quality
prefrontal cortex	UBERON:0000451	42.74	gold quality
muscle tissue	UBERON:0002385	42.65	gold quality
myometrium	UBERON:0001296	42.54	gold quality
descending thoracic aorta	UBERON:0002345	41.90	gold quality
right ovary	UBERON:0002118	41.76	gold quality
primary visual cortex	UBERON:0002436	41.54	gold quality
left uterine tube	UBERON:0001303	41.35	gold quality
lymph node	UBERON:0000029	41.05	gold quality
skin of abdomen	UBERON:0001416	40.82	gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

Detected in 1 experiment(s), a significant marker in 0.

Experiment	Marker?	Max mean expression
E-ANND-3	no	1.31

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 7)

• Includes the study of a polymorphic upstream ORF in this gene, and shows that it functions to reduce protein levels by ~58%. (PMID:19372376)
• Our results show that the expression rate of some of the T2R taste receptor genes was increased significantly in patients with phantogeusia. (PMID:22397221)
• differences in the bitterness from chemicals associated with genetic polymorphisms in bitter taste receptor genes, specifically in TAS2R3, -4, -5 as well as TAS2R38. (PMID:26785164)
• In summary, genetic variations in T2R3/4 bitterness receptors may modify the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) risk, and the genetically modified thyroid hormone level by those variations may be linked with the PTC-T2Rs association (PMID:30301923)
• Polymorphism of TAS2R3, TAS2R5, TAS2R19, and TAS2R50 genes and bitter food intake frequency inelderly woman. (PMID:32227702)
• Novel frameshift mutations of ANKUB1, GLI3, and TAS2R3 associated with polysyndactyly in a Chinese family. (PMID:32253825)
• Can cornelian cherry mask bitter taste of probiotic chocolate? Human TAS2R receptors and a sensory study with comprehensive characterisation of new functional product. (PMID:33556063)

Cross-species orthologs

2 orthologs

Organism	Symbol	Gene ID
mus_musculus	Tas2r137	ENSMUSG00000052850
rattus_norvegicus	Tas2r137	ENSRNOG00000030413

Paralogs (23): TAS2R8 (ENSG00000121314), TAS2R10 (ENSG00000121318), TAS2R7 (ENSG00000121377), TAS2R9 (ENSG00000121381), TAS2R4 (ENSG00000127364), TAS2R5 (ENSG00000127366), TAS2R16 (ENSG00000128519), TAS2R1 (ENSG00000169777), TAS2R60 (ENSG00000185899), TAS2R42 (ENSG00000186136), TAS2R19 (ENSG00000212124), TAS2R50 (ENSG00000212126), TAS2R14 (ENSG00000212127), TAS2R13 (ENSG00000212128), TAS2R41 (ENSG00000221855), TAS2R40 (ENSG00000221937), TAS2R46 (ENSG00000226761), TAS2R39 (ENSG00000236398), TAS2R43 (ENSG00000255374), TAS2R20 (ENSG00000255837), TAS2R30 (ENSG00000256188), TAS2R31 (ENSG00000256436), TAS2R38 (ENSG00000257138)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Taste receptor type 2 member 3 — Q9NYW6 (reviewed: Q9NYW6)

All UniProt accessions (1): Q9NYW6

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Gustducin-coupled receptor implicated in the perception of bitter compounds in the oral cavity and the gastrointestinal tract. Signals through PLCB2 and the calcium-regulated cation channel TRPM5.

Subcellular location. Membrane.

Tissue specificity. Expressed in subsets of taste receptor cells of the tongue and palate epithelium and exclusively in gustducin-positive cells. Expressed in the antrum and fundus (part of the stomach), duodenum and in gastric endocrine cells.

Miscellaneous. Several bitter taste receptors are expressed in a single taste receptor cell.

Similarity. Belongs to the G-protein coupled receptor T2R family.

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_058639* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

ID	Name	Type
IPR007960	TAS2R	Family

Pfam: PF05296

UniProt features (17 total): topological domain 8, transmembrane region 7, chain 1, glycosylation site 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

Model	pLDDT	Fraction very-high
AF-Q9NYW6-F1	87.19	0.58

Functional residue map

Curated UniProt residues grouped by drug-discovery relevance — catalytic, ligand-binding, modification, and mutation-validated positions. Source: UniProtKB sequence features.

Glycosylation sites (1): 166

Function

Pathways and Gene Ontology

Reactome pathways

9 pathways

ID	Pathway
R-HSA-418594	G alpha (i) signalling events
R-HSA-420499	Class C/3 (Metabotropic glutamate/pheromone receptors)
R-HSA-9717207	Sensory perception of sweet, bitter, and umami (glutamate) taste
R-HSA-162582	Signal Transduction
R-HSA-372790	Signaling by GPCR
R-HSA-388396	GPCR downstream signalling
R-HSA-500792	GPCR ligand binding
R-HSA-9709957	Sensory Perception
R-HSA-9717189	Sensory perception of taste

MSigDB gene sets: 32 (showing top): GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_CHEMICAL_STIMULUS, GOBP_DETECTION_OF_CHEMICAL_STIMULUS_INVOLVED_IN_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_TASTE, KOYAMA_SEMA3B_TARGETS_UP, GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_TASTE, GOBP_DETECTION_OF_STIMULUS, GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION, ACEVEDO_METHYLATED_IN_LIVER_CANCER_DN, GOMF_TRANSMEMBRANE_SIGNALING_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, GOMF_BITTER_TASTE_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, GOMF_TASTE_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, GOMF_G_PROTEIN_COUPLED_RECEPTOR_ACTIVITY, GOBP_G_PROTEIN_COUPLED_RECEPTOR_SIGNALING_PATHWAY, GOBP_DETECTION_OF_STIMULUS_INVOLVED_IN_SENSORY_PERCEPTION, GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_BITTER_TASTE, GSE13484_12H_VS_3H_YF17D_VACCINE_STIM_PBMC_DN

GO Biological Process (4): detection of chemical stimulus involved in sensory perception of bitter taste (GO:0001580), signal transduction (GO:0007165), G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway (GO:0007186), sensory perception of taste (GO:0050909)

GO Molecular Function (3): G protein-coupled receptor activity (GO:0004930), taste receptor activity (GO:0008527), bitter taste receptor activity (GO:0033038)

GO Cellular Component (2): plasma membrane (GO:0005886), membrane (GO:0016020)

Reactome top-level categories

Rollup of top-6 pathways:

Category	Pathways
Signaling by GPCR	2
GPCR downstream signalling	1
GPCR ligand binding	1
Sensory perception of taste	1
Signal Transduction	1
Sensory Perception	1

GO top-level categories

Rollup of top GO terms by namespace:

Category	Terms
detection of chemical stimulus involved in sensory perception of taste	2
transmembrane signaling receptor activity	2
sensory perception of bitter taste	1
cell communication	1
cellular process	1
signaling	1
regulation of cellular process	1
cellular response to stimulus	1
G protein-coupled receptor activity	1
signal transduction	1
sensory perception of chemical stimulus	1
G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway	1
detection of chemical stimulus involved in sensory perception of bitter taste	1
taste receptor activity	1
membrane	1
cell periphery	1
cellular anatomical structure	1

Protein interactions and networks

STRING

326 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein A	Protein B	Partner UniProt	Score
TAS2R3	GNAT3	A8MTJ3	823
TAS2R3	TAS1R2	Q8TE23	731
TAS2R3	TAS1R3	Q7RTX0	529
TAS2R3	OR5K3	A6NET4	483
TAS2R3	TAS2R4	Q9NYW5	479
TAS2R3	ANKUB1	A6NFN9	430
TAS2R3	TAS1R1	Q7RTX1	424
TAS2R3	OR5H6	Q8NGV6	401
TAS2R3	WEE2	P0C1S8	373
TAS2R3	OR1Q1	Q15612	372
TAS2R3	TAS2R10	Q9NYW0	371
TAS2R3	OR1E1	P30953	350
TAS2R3	M1AP	Q8TC57	337
TAS2R3	MS4A14	Q96JA4	323
TAS2R3	STXBP3	O00186	306

IntAct

0 interactions, top by confidence:

BioGRID (1): TAS2R3 (Affinity Capture-RNA)

ESM2 similar proteins: P59528, P59530, Q5Y4Z2, Q645T9, Q645U9, Q645V1, Q645Y5, Q645Z3, Q645Z5, Q646A7, Q646B6, Q646B8, Q646C6, Q646D2, Q646D8, Q646D9, Q646F7, Q646G3, Q646G5, Q675B7, Q675B8, Q675B9, Q675C0, Q67ER8, Q67ES1, Q67ES5, Q67ES6, Q67ES9, Q67ET3, Q67ET5, Q7M707, Q7M711, Q7M712, Q7M713, Q7M715, Q7M717, Q7M718, Q7M720, Q7M725, Q7RTR8

Diamond homologs: P0DSN6, P59528, P59530, P59537, P59540, P59542, P59543, Q5Y4Y9, Q5Y4Z2, Q5Y4Z5, Q5Y4Z8, Q5Y500, Q645T0, Q645T2, Q645T3, Q645T7, Q645T9, Q645U2, Q645U8, Q645U9, Q645V0, Q645V1, Q645V3, Q645V8, Q645V9, Q645Y5, Q645Z2, Q645Z3, Q645Z4, Q645Z5, Q645Z9, Q646A2, Q646A3, Q646A7, Q646B4, Q646B5, Q646B6, Q646B7, Q646B8, Q646B9

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

44 variants total. Per-class counts are floors (≥ shown; pagination cap):

Classification	Count (floor)
Pathogenic	0
Likely pathogenic	0
Uncertain significance	40
Likely benign	4
Benign	0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

250 predictions. Top by Δscore:

Variant	Effect	Δscore
7:141764531:A:T	donor_gain	0.9200
7:141764546:ATG:A	donor_gain	0.9200
7:141764323:G:GT	donor_gain	0.8900
7:141764528:TGGA:T	donor_gain	0.8900
7:141764529:GGAG:G	donor_gain	0.8900
7:141764333:C:G	donor_gain	0.8600
7:141764340:T:TG	donor_gain	0.8200
7:141764255:AGC:A	donor_gain	0.7300
7:141764918:T:G	acceptor_gain	0.7300
7:141764254:T:TA	donor_gain	0.7200
7:141764779:G:A	acceptor_gain	0.7200
7:141764544:TG:T	donor_gain	0.7000
7:141764545:GAT:G	donor_gain	0.7000
7:141764778:T:TA	acceptor_gain	0.7000
7:141764778:TGGGG:T	acceptor_gain	0.6600
7:141764923:T:TA	acceptor_gain	0.6600
7:141764917:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.6400
7:141764177:G:GT	donor_gain	0.6200
7:141764226:TC:T	donor_gain	0.6000
7:141764920:ATTT:A	acceptor_gain	0.6000
7:141764394:GGA:G	donor_gain	0.5900
7:141764541:G:A	donor_gain	0.5700
7:141764911:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.5600
7:141764554:G:T	donor_gain	0.5500
7:141764217:G:GT	donor_gain	0.5400
7:141764992:T:A	acceptor_gain	0.5400
7:141764553:G:GT	donor_gain	0.5200
7:141764264:TTC:T	donor_gain	0.5100
7:141764633:AG:A	acceptor_gain	0.5100
7:141764634:GG:G	acceptor_gain	0.5100

AlphaMissense

2078 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

Variant	Protein change	am_pathogenicity
7:141764513:T:C	F119L	0.880
7:141764515:C:A	F119L	0.880
7:141764515:C:G	F119L	0.880
7:141764498:T:C	F114L	0.814
7:141764500:C:A	F114L	0.814
7:141764500:C:G	F114L	0.814
7:141764612:T:C	F152L	0.801
7:141764614:T:A	F152L	0.801
7:141764614:T:G	F152L	0.801
7:141764444:A:C	S96R	0.780
7:141764446:C:A	S96R	0.780
7:141764446:C:G	S96R	0.780
7:141764527:G:C	K123N	0.721
7:141764527:G:T	K123N	0.721
7:141764873:T:C	F239L	0.704
7:141764875:C:A	F239L	0.704
7:141764875:C:G	F239L	0.704
7:141764207:T:C	F17L	0.699
7:141764209:C:A	F17L	0.699
7:141764209:C:G	F17L	0.699
7:141764429:T:C	F91L	0.695
7:141764431:T:A	F91L	0.695
7:141764431:T:G	F91L	0.695
7:141764588:A:C	S144R	0.695
7:141764590:T:A	S144R	0.695
7:141764590:T:G	S144R	0.695
7:141764183:T:C	F9L	0.680
7:141764185:C:A	F9L	0.680
7:141764185:C:G	F9L	0.680
7:141764450:T:A	W98R	0.677

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1001136865 (7:141763169 G>A), RS1001138448 (7:141762973 C>G), RS1001314139 (7:141762322 C>T), RS1002246216 (7:141763555 ATC>A), RS1002760422 (7:141763389 T>A), RS1004289029 (7:141765396 A>G), RS1007309992 (7:141762848 A>G), RS1007647158 (7:141762637 A>G), RS1008906026 (7:141764100 G>A), RS1009288200 (7:141763802 C>T), RS1009745949 (7:141763042 C>T), RS1010737087 (7:141764440 T>C), RS1012358280 (7:141765146 T>C), RS1016015868 (7:141762254 C>T), RS1016024652 (7:141763875 C>T)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene MIM:604868 | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

0 total (0 of 0 shown, HPO-id order):

GWAS associations

1 associations (top):

Study	Trait	p-value
GCST001961_2	Anorexia nervosa	2.000000e-07

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: yes

ChEMBL targets (1): CHEMBL4523474 (SINGLE PROTEIN)

Molecules with ChEMBL bioactivity

1 molecules (phase ≥1), by development phase (incl. off-target/promiscuous compounds). Patent mentions across the top 20 by phase: 40,234 (via chembl_molecule»patent_compound — counts attach to the compound, not the gene–compound relationship, so off-target/promiscuous molecules can dominate).

Molecule	Name	Phase	Patents
CHEMBL434	ISOPROTERENOL	4	40,234

PharmGKB: 1 entry (VIP=true, CPIC=false)

GtoPdb / IUPHAR curated pharmacology

(IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology — expert-curated)

Target class: gpcr — Taste 2 receptors

ChEMBL bioactivities

1 potent at pChembl≥5 of 1 total, top 1 by pChembl (potency: 10 = 0.1 nM, 6 = 1 µM).

pChembl	Type	Value	Unit	Molecule
8.31	EC50	4.9	nM	ISOPROTERENOL

CTD chemical–gene interactions

6 total (human), top 6 by PubMed support.

Chemical	Actions (top 5)	PubMed papers
CGP 52608	affects binding, increases reaction	1
Air Pollutants	increases abundance, increases expression	1
Benzo(a)pyrene	affects methylation	1
Asbestos, Crocidolite	affects expression	1
Lactic Acid	increases expression	1
Particulate Matter	increases abundance, increases expression	1

ChEMBL screening assays

7 unique, capped per target: 7 functional

Representative assays (with source publication via chembl_document):

Assay ID	Type	Description	Source paper
CHEMBL4346423	Functional	Antagonist activity at recombinant human TAS2R3 transiently expressed in HEK293T co-expressing Galpha16gust44 assessed as inhibition of chloroquine-induced intracellular calcium level by measuring remaining activity at 25 uM by fluo-4AM dye	Discovery and Development of S6821 and S7958 as Potent TAS2R8 Antagonists. — J Med Chem

Clinical trials (associated diseases)

0 trials via MONDO — disease-level, not drug-specific.