by Nathaniel J. Himmel, Richard Benton
Gustatory receptors (Grs) are well known for their functions in sensory neurons in detecting food and toxins. An intriguing new study in PLOS Biology provides evidence for a role for Grs in Drosophila epithelia in protecting stressed cells from proteotoxicity. Gustatory receptors on sensory neurons have a well established role in chemosensation. This Primer explores the implications of a PLOS Biology study revealing that a gustatory receptor gene cluster has an unexpected role in regulating cell survival during proteotoxic stress.