TRPM5 and Hypertension: However, a long-term high-salt diet can downregulate TRPM5 or inhibit PKC-dependent threonine phosphorylation, which impairs TRPM5-mediated high salt aversion without affecting epithelial sodium channel-dependent salt taste preference, suggesting that the inhibition or deletion of TRPM5 as a taste sensor may be involved in high salt-induced hypertension [181].