Tyrosine kinase inhibitors affect sweet taste and dysregulate fate selection of specific taste cell subtypes via KIT inhibition.

Taste dysfunction, or dysgeusia, is a common side effect of many cancer drugs. Dysgeusia is often reported by patients treated with anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), which inhibit receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). However, the mechanisms by which TKIs cause dysgeusia are not understood, as the role of RTKs in adult taste homeostasis is unknown. Here, we find that treating adult mice with the TKI cabozantinib shifts the fate of differentiating functional taste cell subtypes within taste buds. Through behavioral assays, we find this cell fate shift leads to blunted responses to sweet tastant in cabozantinib-treated mice. Finally, we show that inducible knockout of the RTK KIT, which is inhibited by cabozantinib, largely phenocopies drug treatment. Our results establish KIT as a regulator of taste cell homeostasis and suggest that KIT inhibition may underlie TKI-induced dysgeusia in patients.