| HGNC Family | G protein-coupled receptors |
| Name | taste receptor, type 2, member 8 |
| Description | This gene product belongs to the family of candidate taste receptors that are members of the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily. These proteins are specifically expressed in the taste receptor cells of the tongue and palate epithelia. They are organized in the genome in clusters and are genetically linked to loci that influence bitter perception in mice and humans. In functional expression studies, they respond to bitter tastants. This gene maps to the taste receptor gene cluster on chromosome 12p13. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008] |
| Summary |
{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nTAS2R8 is a bitter taste receptor that displays selective ligand responsiveness. In studies using heterologous expression systems, the strong bitter tetrapeptide Phe‐Phe‐Pro‐Arg activated cells expressing TAS2R8, whereas a partial peptide fragment (Pro‐Arg) failed to do so. These findings indicate that TAS2R8 does not indiscriminately bind all bitter peptides but instead exhibits a unique, ligand‐selective activation profile."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nIn neuroblastoma models, endogenous expression of TAS2R8 (along with TAS2R10) is associated with a more differentiated neuronal phenotype. Upregulation of TAS2R8 during retinoic acid–induced neuronal differentiation leads to neurite elongation, concurrent down‐regulation of cancer stem cell markers (including DLK1, CD133, Notch1, and Sox2), and a marked inhibition of self‐renewal and invasion features. These data suggest that TAS2R8 may function to suppress cancer stemness and tumor invasiveness in neuroblastoma cells."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n\n"}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\nFurthermore, the transcriptional regulation of TAS2R8 appears to be modulated by intracellular zinc levels. In studies using oral squamous cell carcinoma cells, zinc deprivation reduced the promoter activity of TAS2R8 by disrupting a crucial CTCF binding motif within the promoter region. This zinc‐dependent regulation implies that adequate zinc levels are required to maintain normal TAS2R8 expression, potentially linking nutritional status to bitter taste receptor–mediated cellular functions."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yohei Ueno, Takanobu Sakurai, Shinji Okada, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Human bitter taste receptors hTAS2R8 and hTAS2R39 with differential functions to recognize bitter peptides."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Biosci Biotechnol Biochem (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1271/bbb.100893"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1271/bbb.100893"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "21670512"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21670512"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Yoona Seo, Yoo-Sun Kim, Kyung Eun Lee, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Anti-cancer stemness and anti-invasive activity of bitter taste receptors, TAS2R8 and TAS2R10, in human neuroblastoma cells."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "PLoS One (2017)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1371/journal.pone.0176851"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176851"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "28467517"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28467517"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Tsuyoshi Kojima, Toyonobu Maeda, Atsuko Suzuki, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Intracellular zinc-dependent TAS2R8 gene expression through CTCF activation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Biomed Res (2020)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.2220/biomedres.41.217"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.2220/biomedres.41.217"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "33071257"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33071257"}]}]}]}
|
| Synonyms | TRB5, T2R8 |
| Proteins | TA2R8_HUMAN |
| NCBI Gene ID | 50836 |
| API | |
| Download Associations | |
| Predicted Functions |
 |
| Co-expressed Genes |
|
| Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines |
|
TAS2R8 has 1,831 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 categories (molecular profile, organism, chemical, functional term, phrase or reference, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA) extracted from 64 datasets.
Click the + buttons to view associations for TAS2R8 from the datasets below.
If available, associations are ranked by standardized value
| Dataset | Summary | |
|---|---|---|
| Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles | tissue samples with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray | tissue samples with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset. | |
| Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | cell types and tissues with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures | small molecule perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset. | |
| CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles | transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of TAS2R8 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors binding the promoter of TAS2R8 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 | transcription factors binding the promoter of TAS2R8 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset. | |
| CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas | gene perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the CM4AI KOLF21J CRISPRi Gene Perturbation Atlas dataset. | |
| CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules | small molecule perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset. | |
| COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores | cellular components containing TAS2R8 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 | cellular components co-occuring with TAS2R8 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles | cell lines with TAS2R8 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset. | |
| DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency | cell lines with fitness changed by TAS2R8 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset. | |
| DGIdb Drug Targets 2026 | interacting drugs for TAS2R8 protein from the DGIdb Drug Targets 2026 dataset. | |
| DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 | diseases associated with TAS2R8 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 | diseases co-occuring with TAS2R8 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
| ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles | histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at TAS2R8 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles | transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of TAS2R8 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset. | |
| ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors binding the promoter of TAS2R8 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the GDSC Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations | biological terms co-occuring with TAS2R8 gene in literature-supported statements describing functions of genes from the GeneRIF Biological Term Annotations dataset. | |
| GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures | PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing TAS2R8 from the GeneSigDB Published Gene Signatures dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases | disease perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Diseases dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations | gene perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Gene Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations | kinase perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Kinase Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules | small molecule perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations | transcription factor perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset. | |
| GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections | virus perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the GEO Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Viral Infections dataset. | |
| GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 | biological processes involving TAS2R8 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GO Biological Process Annotations 2023 | biological processes involving TAS2R8 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations 2023 dataset. | |
| GO Biological Process Annotations 2025 | biological processes involving TAS2R8 gene from the curated GO Biological Process Annotations2025 dataset. | |
| GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 | cellular components containing TAS2R8 protein from the curated GO Cellular Component Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 | molecular functions performed by TAS2R8 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2015 dataset. | |
| GO Molecular Function Annotations 2023 | molecular functions performed by TAS2R8 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2023 dataset. | |
| GO Molecular Function Annotations 2025 | molecular functions performed by TAS2R8 gene from the curated GO Molecular Function Annotations 2025 dataset. | |
| GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles | tissues with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 | tissues with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other tissues from the GTEx Tissue Gene Expression Profiles 2023 dataset. | |
| GWASdb SNP-Disease Associations | diseases associated with TAS2R8 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GWASdb SNP-Disease Associations dataset. | |
| GWASdb SNP-Phenotype Associations | phenotypes associated with TAS2R8 gene in GWAS datasets from the GWASdb SNP-Phenotype Associations dataset. | |
| Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles | cell lines with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the Heiser et al., PNAS, 2011 Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset. | |
| InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations | protein domains predicted for TAS2R8 protein from the InterPro Predicted Protein Domain Annotations dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets 2025 | transcription factors regulating expression of TAS2R8 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Human Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors regulating expression of TAS2R8 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the JASPAR Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| KEGG Pathways | pathways involving TAS2R8 protein from the KEGG Pathways dataset. | |
| KEGG Pathways 2026 | pathways involving TAS2R8 protein from the KEGG Pathways 2026 dataset. | |
| Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles | cell lines with high or low copy number of TAS2R8 gene relative to other cell lines from the Klijn et al., Nat. Biotechnol., 2015 Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset. | |
| KnockTF Gene Expression Profiles with Transcription Factor Perturbations | transcription factor perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the KnockTF Gene Expression Profiles with Transcription Factor Perturbations dataset. | |
| LINCS L1000 CMAP Chemical Perturbation Consensus Signatures | small molecule perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the LINCS L1000 CMAP Chemical Perturbations Consensus Signatures dataset. | |
| LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations | cellular components containing TAS2R8 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the LOCATE Curated Protein Localization Annotations dataset. | |
| MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets | transcription factors regulating expression of TAS2R8 gene predicted using known transcription factor binding site motifs from the MotifMap Predicted Transcription Factor Targets dataset. | |
| Reactome Pathways 2014 | pathways involving TAS2R8 protein from the Reactome Pathways dataset. | |
| Reactome Pathways 2024 | pathways involving TAS2R8 protein from the Reactome Pathways 2024 dataset. | |
| Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles | histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at TAS2R8 gene from the Roadmap Epigenomics Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset. | |
| Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 | transcription factors regulating expression of TAS2R8 gene from the Rummagene Transcription Factor Associations 2026 dataset. | |
| RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures | drug perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the RummaGEO Drug Perturbation Signatures dataset. | |
| RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures | gene perturbations changing expression of TAS2R8 gene from the RummaGEO Gene Perturbation Signatures dataset. | |
| TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors | tissue samples with high or low expression of TAS2R8 gene relative to other tissue samples from the TCGA Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Tumors dataset. | |
| TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores | tissues co-occuring with TAS2R8 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores dataset. | |
| TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 | tissues co-occuring with TAS2R8 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the TISSUES Text-mining Tissue Protein Expression Evidence Scores 2025 dataset. | |
