TAS2R39

Summary

TAS2R39 (taste 2 receptor member 39, HGNC:18886) is a protein-coding gene on chromosome 7q34, encoding Taste receptor type 2 member 39 (P59534). Receptor that may play a role in the perception of bitterness and is gustducin-linked.

The protein encoded by this gene is a bitter taste receptor that detects green tea catechins, soy isoflavones, and theaflavins. The encoded protein is gustducin-linked and may activate alpha gustducin. This gene is intronless.

Source: NCBI Gene 259285 — RefSeq curated summary.

At a glance

• Clinical variants (ClinVar): 51 total
• Druggable target: yes — 1 molecules with ChEMBL bioactivity
• MANE Select transcript: NM_176881

Identifiers

Gene identifiers

Field	Value
HGNC ID	HGNC:18886
Approved symbol	TAS2R39
Name	taste 2 receptor member 39
Location	7q34
Locus type	gene with protein product
Status	Approved
Ensembl gene	ENSG00000236398
Ensembl biotype	protein_coding
Entrez	259285

Gene structure

Transcript identifiers

Ensembl transcripts: 1 — 1 protein_coding

ENST00000446620

RefSeq mRNA: 1 — MANE Select: NM_176881 NM_176881

CCDS: CCDS47729

Canonical transcript exons

ENST00000446620 — 1 exons

Exon	Start	End
ENSE00001762990	143183419	143184435

Expression profiles

Bgee: expression breadth tissue_specific, 8 present calls, max score 85.83.

Top tissues by expression

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

Tissue	Anatomy ID	Expression score	Quality
male germ line stem cell (sensu Vertebrata) in testis	CL:0000089 ∩ UBERON:0000473	85.83	gold quality
corpus callosum	UBERON:0002336	67.09	gold quality
upper leg skin	UBERON:0004262	51.76	silver quality
medial globus pallidus	UBERON:0002477	50.75	gold quality
globus pallidus	UBERON:0001875	48.40	gold quality
cardia of stomach	UBERON:0001162	45.86	gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue of rectus abdominis	UBERON:0004511	43.37	gold quality
sural nerve	UBERON:0015488	43.07	gold quality
secondary oocyte	CL:0000655	42.57	gold quality
epithelium of nasopharynx	UBERON:0001951	41.81	gold quality
vastus lateralis	UBERON:0001379	41.41	gold quality
quadriceps femoris	UBERON:0001377	41.37	gold quality
superficial temporal artery	UBERON:0001614	41.33	gold quality
palpebral conjunctiva	UBERON:0001812	41.10	gold quality
ventral tegmental area	UBERON:0002691	41.05	gold quality
mucosa of paranasal sinus	UBERON:0005030	40.98	gold quality
amniotic fluid	UBERON:0000173	40.69	gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue	UBERON:0001134	40.65	gold quality
jejunal mucosa	UBERON:0000399	40.59	gold quality
biceps brachii	UBERON:0001507	40.57	gold quality
myocardium	UBERON:0002349	40.45	gold quality
gingival epithelium	UBERON:0001949	40.43	gold quality
germinal epithelium of ovary	UBERON:0001304	40.33	gold quality
esophagus squamous epithelium	UBERON:0006920	40.29	gold quality
skeletal muscle tissue of biceps brachii	UBERON:0004502	40.27	gold quality
jejunum	UBERON:0002115	40.18	gold quality
cartilage tissue	UBERON:0002418	40.06	gold quality
oviduct epithelium	UBERON:0004804	40.03	gold quality
mammary duct	UBERON:0001765	39.98	gold quality
mucosa of sigmoid colon	UBERON:0004993	39.95	gold quality

Single-cell (SCXA)

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

Experiment	Marker?	Max mean expression
E-ANND-3	no	1.64

Regulation

Is transcription factor: no

Literature-anchored findings (GeneRIF, showing 4)

• these results suggest the participation of hTAS2R39 in the detection of catechins in humans. (PMID:21272567)
• Human bitter taste receptors hTAS2R8 and hTAS2R39 display differential functions to recognize bitter peptides. (PMID:21670512)
• TAS2R14 and TAS2R39 were activated by isoflavones and other isoflavonoids. (PMID:21942422)
• hTAS2R39 is the primary receptor for the bitterness of theaflavins (PMID:25273142)

Cross-species orthologs

4 orthologs

Organism	Symbol	Gene ID
danio_rerio	tas2r200.2	ENSDARG00000074066
danio_rerio	tas2r200.1	ENSDARG00000079880
mus_musculus	Tas2r139	ENSMUSG00000047102
rattus_norvegicus	Tas2r139	ENSRNOG00000028135

Paralogs (23): TAS2R8 (ENSG00000121314), TAS2R10 (ENSG00000121318), TAS2R7 (ENSG00000121377), TAS2R9 (ENSG00000121381), TAS2R3 (ENSG00000127362), 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), TAS2R43 (ENSG00000255374), TAS2R20 (ENSG00000255837), TAS2R30 (ENSG00000256188), TAS2R31 (ENSG00000256436), TAS2R38 (ENSG00000257138)

Protein

Protein identifiers

Taste receptor type 2 member 39 — P59534 (reviewed: P59534)

Alternative names: Taste receptor type 2 member 57

All UniProt accessions (1): P59534

UniProt curated annotations — full annotation on UniProt →

Function. Receptor that may play a role in the perception of bitterness and is gustducin-linked. May play a role in sensing the chemical composition of the gastrointestinal content. The activity of this receptor may stimulate alpha gustducin, mediate PLC-beta-2 activation and lead to the gating of TRPM5.

Subcellular location. Membrane.

Tissue specificity. Expressed in subsets of taste receptor cells of the tongue and exclusively in gustducin-positive cells.

Miscellaneous. Most taste cells may be activated by a limited number of bitter compounds; individual taste cells can discriminate among bitter stimuli.

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

RefSeq proteins (1): NP_795362* (*=MANE)

Domains & families (InterPro)

ID	Name	Type
IPR007960	TAS2R	Family

Pfam: PF05296

UniProt features (20 total): topological domain 8, transmembrane region 7, glycosylation site 2, sequence variant 2, chain 1

Structure

Experimental structures (PDB)

0 structures.

Predicted structure (AlphaFold)

Model	pLDDT	Fraction very-high
AF-P59534-F1	81.44	0.43

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 (2): 185, 194

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: 28 (showing top): GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_CHEMICAL_STIMULUS, FOXO1_01, GOBP_DETECTION_OF_CHEMICAL_STIMULUS_INVOLVED_IN_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_TASTE, GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION_OF_TASTE, GOBP_DETECTION_OF_STIMULUS, GOBP_SENSORY_PERCEPTION, 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, GSE14000_TRANSLATED_RNA_VS_MRNA_16H_LPS_DC_UP, RTAAACA_FREAC2_01

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 (2): G protein-coupled receptor activity (GO:0004930), 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	1
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
transmembrane signaling receptor activity	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

352 interactions, top by confidence (×1000):

Protein A	Protein B	Partner UniProt	Score
TAS2R39	TAS1R2	Q8TE23	675
TAS2R39	PKD2L1	Q9P0L9	578
TAS2R39	TAS1R3	Q7RTX0	541
TAS2R39	GNAT3	A8MTJ3	540
TAS2R39	TAS1R1	Q7RTX1	524
TAS2R39	PKD1L3	Q7Z443	519
TAS2R39	OR3A3	P47888	507
TAS2R39	GPRC6A	Q5T6X5	506
TAS2R39	TAS2R1	Q9NYW7	503
TAS2R39	PLCB2	Q00722	420
TAS2R39	CASR	P41180	417
TAS2R39	TRPM5	Q9NZQ8	415
TAS2R39	SCNN1B	P51168	412
TAS2R39	HCN4	Q9Y3Q4	391
TAS2R39	OR1E2	P47887	376

IntAct

3 interactions, top by confidence:

A	B	Type	Score
TAS2R39	PTBP3	psi-mi:“MI:0915”(physical association)	0.400
TAS2R39	rep	psi-mi:“MI:2364”(proximity)	0.270

BioGRID (2): TAS2R39 (Proximity Label-MS), PTBP3 (Affinity Capture-MS)

ESM2 similar proteins: P04201, P12526, P23749, P30554, P35410, P59534, P59535, Q3KNA1, Q3UG50, Q3UG61, Q4VHE7, Q645S5, Q645U4, Q645Y7, Q645Y8, Q645Y9, Q646A9, Q646B0, Q646C8, Q646D3, Q646F0, Q646F1, Q67ER9, Q67ES7, Q67ET0, Q67ET2, Q7TN38, Q7TN41, Q7TN44, Q7TN51, Q7TQA5, Q7TQA6, Q7TQB8, Q8CIP3, Q8R4G1, Q8TDS7, Q8VCJ6, Q91WW2, Q91WW3, Q91ZB8

Diamond homologs: P59530, P59532, P59534, P59536, P59537, P59539, P59540, P59541, P59551, Q2AB83, Q50KZ9, Q5Y4Y8, Q5Y4Z0, Q5Y4Z8, Q5Y500, Q645S2, Q645S5, Q645T0, Q645T4, Q645T7, Q645U1, Q645U2, Q645U4, Q645U6, Q645U7, Q645U8, Q645V1, Q645V3, Q645V8, Q645V9, Q645Y3, Q645Y4, Q645Y5, Q645Y7, Q645Y8, Q645Z0, Q645Z5, Q645Z7, Q646A2, Q646A3

SIGNOR signaling

0 interactions.

Disease & clinical

Clinical variants and AI predictions

ClinVar

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

Classification	Count (floor)
Pathogenic	0
Likely pathogenic	0
Uncertain significance	44
Likely benign	7
Benign	0

Top pathogenic / likely-pathogenic (0)

SpliceAI

227 predictions. Top by Δscore:

Variant	Effect	Δscore
7:143184272:T:G	acceptor_gain	0.8300
7:143184243:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.7900
7:143184244:G:GG	acceptor_gain	0.7900
7:143184146:G:GT	donor_gain	0.7600
7:143184286:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.7600
7:143184287:G:GG	acceptor_gain	0.7600
7:143184243:AGTT:A	acceptor_gain	0.7100
7:143184244:GTTG:G	acceptor_gain	0.7100
7:143184238:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.6900
7:143184287:GTCT:G	acceptor_gain	0.6700
7:143184244:GTT:G	acceptor_gain	0.6500
7:143183495:A:T	donor_gain	0.6300
7:143184231:C:G	acceptor_gain	0.6200
7:143184238:AAT:A	acceptor_gain	0.6100
7:143184244:GT:G	acceptor_gain	0.6000
7:143184086:T:G	acceptor_gain	0.5800
7:143184181:G:GT	donor_gain	0.5800
7:143184240:T:TA	acceptor_gain	0.5600
7:143184099:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.5500
7:143184100:G:GG	acceptor_gain	0.5500
7:143184100:GCC:G	acceptor_gain	0.5400
7:143184124:A:AC	acceptor_gain	0.5400
7:143184232:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.5400
7:143184271:AT:A	acceptor_gain	0.5400
7:143184302:TGTGC:T	acceptor_gain	0.5300
7:143184062:T:A	acceptor_gain	0.5200
7:143184240:TGCA:T	acceptor_loss	0.5200
7:143184241:GCAG:G	acceptor_loss	0.5200
7:143184243:AGTTG:A	acceptor_loss	0.5200
7:143184271:A:AG	acceptor_gain	0.5200

AlphaMissense

2251 scored. Top likely-pathogenic:

Variant	Protein change	am_pathogenicity
7:143183680:A:C	S88R	0.921
7:143183682:C:A	S88R	0.921
7:143183682:C:G	S88R	0.921
7:143183656:A:C	S80R	0.892
7:143183658:T:A	S80R	0.892
7:143183658:T:G	S80R	0.892
7:143183788:A:C	S124R	0.873
7:143183790:C:A	S124R	0.873
7:143183790:C:G	S124R	0.873
7:143183935:A:C	S173R	0.867
7:143183937:C:A	S173R	0.867
7:143183937:C:G	S173R	0.867
7:143183812:A:C	S132R	0.850
7:143183814:T:A	S132R	0.850
7:143183814:T:G	S132R	0.850
7:143184088:T:C	F224L	0.846
7:143184090:C:A	F224L	0.846
7:143184090:C:G	F224L	0.846
7:143183764:A:C	S116R	0.845
7:143183766:T:A	S116R	0.845
7:143183766:T:G	S116R	0.845
7:143183578:T:C	F54L	0.810
7:143183580:C:A	F54L	0.810
7:143183580:C:G	F54L	0.810
7:143184217:T:C	F267L	0.810
7:143184219:T:A	F267L	0.810
7:143184219:T:G	F267L	0.810
7:143183857:T:C	F147L	0.797
7:143183859:C:A	F147L	0.797
7:143183859:C:G	F147L	0.797

dbSNP variants (sampled 300 via entrez): RS1000175649 (7:143184610 G>A), RS1000249120 (7:143184242 C>A,G), RS1000510219 (7:143183056 T>C), RS1001951185 (7:143183765 G>A,C), RS1002364583 (7:143181514 A>G), RS1004026018 (7:143183170 G>A), RS1005265097 (7:143182131 G>A), RS1006299708 (7:143182084 A>G), RS1006541173 (7:143182174 A>C,G), RS1007818278 (7:143182464 T>C), RS1008137078 (7:143184164 C>T), RS1008222812 (7:143182792 C>T), RS1010698980 (7:143184649 C>T), RS1011510501 (7:143184593 T>C), RS1012226961 (7:143183201 A>G)

Disease associations

OMIM: gene `` | disease phenotypes:

GenCC curated gene-disease

Mondo (0):

Orphanet (0):

HPO phenotypes

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

GWAS associations

0 associations (top):

Drugs & pharmacology

Drug and pharmacology data

Is drug target: yes

ChEMBL targets (1): CHEMBL4523249 (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

Most potent curated ligand interactions (14 total), top 14:

Ligand	Action	Affinity	Parameter
theaflavin-3′-O-gallate	Agonist	6.17	pEC50
theaflavin	Agonist	5.55	pEC50
luteolin	Agonist	5.14	pEC50
epicatechin gallate	Agonist	4.67	pEC50
6-Methylflavone	Antagonist	4.66	pIC50
naringenin	Agonist	4.48	pEC50
scutellarein	Agonist	4.39	pEC50
datiscetin	Agonist	4.38	pEC50
phloretin	Agonist	4.38	pEC50
genistein	Agonist	4.31	pEC50
(±)-Equol	Agonist	4.25	pEC50
epigallocatechin	Agonist	3.4	pEC50
(-)-Epicatechin	Agonist	3.38	pEC50
vanillin	Agonist	3.06	pEC50

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

3 total (human), top 3 by PubMed support.

Chemical	Actions (top 5)	PubMed papers
CGP 52608	affects binding, increases reaction	1
Benzo(a)pyrene	affects methylation	1
Asbestos, Crocidolite	affects expression	1

ChEMBL screening assays

8 unique, capped per target: 8 functional

Representative assays (with source publication via chembl_document):

Assay ID	Type	Description	Source paper
CHEMBL4346434	Functional	Antagonist activity at recombinant human TAS2R39 transiently expressed in HEK293T co-expressing Galpha16gust44 assessed as inhibition of ranitidine-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.