C. Shawn Dotson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Office Phone: (352) 294-0030
Lab Phone: (352) 392-4045
Email: dotson@ufl.edu
Education:
2006 Ph.D. (Behavioral Neuroscience) University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
2006-2009 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Research Summary:
Dr. Dotson’s laboratory is dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying chemosensory function in mammals and how these functions, in turn, impact upon ingestive behaviors.
Key Words:
Genetic Basis of Gustation
Eating Behaviors
Obesity
Animal Psychophysics
Transduction Processes
Taste Preferences and Aversions
Research Focus:
We are interested in the functional organization of the gustatory system in the periphery, with a particular focus on the receptor basis of taste specificity. Mammals utilize several distinct populations of taste receptor cells to detect chemical cues that contain important information about the quality of foods. Exactly how these various cell populations contribute to the process of translating the physical properties of taste stimuli into neural activity still remains somewhat of a mystery. My laboratory uses sophisticated animal psychophysical testing to evaluate these processes in animals that have genetically or otherwise manipulated nervous systems. These studies may lead to the design of food additives that could benefit individuals suffering from conditions that are linked to excessive intake of foodstuffs (e.g., alcoholism, type 2 diabetes).
We are also interested in the influence of taste receptors on nutritional intake, as well as the postprandial response to nutrients. We are attempting to assess how normal variation in taste functioning is associated with diet, lifestyle behavior, and metabolic disease. Since the sense of taste affects our food choices and eating habits, it may have a significant impact on obesity, diabetes and related disorders. Additionally, the recent discovery that taste receptors, which were thought to be expressed exclusively in the oronasal cavity, are also expressed in cells of the lower gastrointestinal tract, suggests that they may be involved in the nutrient-dependent regulation of metabolism, providing another route through which taste receptor polymorphisms may impact upon health. Thus, we are investigating the influence of variation in genes associated with gustatory function on obesity- and diabetes-related traits. These genetic studies will help us to better establish the relationships between taste function and disease.
Lab Members:
| Name: | Position: | Email: |
| Alicia Brown | Senior Biological Scientist | arbrown@mbi.ufl.edu |
| Megan Doheny | Lab Technician | ottermeg@ufl.edu |
| Michael LaSala | Graduate Student | mlasala@ufl.edu |
Recent or Most Significant Publications:
Dotson, C.D., Vigues, S., and Munger, S.D. (2010) T1R and T2R receptors: modulation of incretin hormones and potential targets for treatment of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Curr Opin Investig Drugs 11(4), 447-454.
Dotson, C.D., Zhang, L., Xu, H., Shin, Y.K., Vigues, S., Ott, S.H., Elson, A.E.T., Choi, H.J., Shaw, H., Egan, J.M., Mitchell, B.D., Li X., Steinle, N.I., and Munger, S.D. (2008) Bitter Taste Receptors Influence Glucose Homeostasis. PLoS ONE, 3(12), e3974.
Dotson, C.D. and Spector, A.C. (2007) Behavioral Discrimination between Sucrose and Other Natural Sweeteners in Mice: Implications for the Neural Coding of T1R Ligands. J Neurosci, 27(42), 11242-11253.