GluN2A- and GluN2B-immunoreactive type I cells attached to vesicular glutamate transporter 2-immunoreactive afferent nerve terminals of the rat carotid body

Author(s):  
Takuya Yokoyama ◽  
Yoshio Yamamoto ◽  
Masato Hirakawa ◽  
Tomoyuki Saino
2014 ◽  
Vol 358 (1) ◽  
pp. 271-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Yokoyama ◽  
Nobuaki Nakamuta ◽  
Tatsumi Kusakabe ◽  
Yoshio Yamamoto

2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 614-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. He ◽  
B. Dinger ◽  
S. Fidone

Current views suggest that oxygen sensing in the carotid body occurs in chemosensory type I cells, which excite synaptically apposed chemoafferent nerve terminals in the carotid sinus nerve (CSN). Prolonged exposure in a low-oxygen environment [i.e., chronic hypoxia (CH)] elicits an elevated stimulus-evoked discharge in chemoreceptor CSN fibers (i.e., increased chemosensitivity). In the present study, we evaluated cholinergic chemotransmission in the rat carotid body in an effort to test the hypothesis that CH enhances ACh-mediated synaptic activity between type I cells and chemoafferent nerve terminals. Animals were exposed in a hypobaric chamber (barometric pressure = 380 Torr) for 9–22 days before evaluation of chemoreceptor activity using an in vitro carotid body/CSN preparation. Nerve activity evoked by ACh was significantly larger ( P < 0.01) after CH, suggesting increased expression of cholinergic receptors. Approximately 80% of the CSN impulse activity elicited by ACh (100- or 1,000-μg bolus) in both normal and CH preparations was blocked by the specific nicotinic receptor antagonist mecamylamine (100 μM). CSN activity elicited by acute hypoxia or hypercapnia in normal preparations was likewise blocked (≥80%) in the presence of 100 μM mecamylamine, but after CH the enhanced CSN activity elicited by acute hypoxia or hypercapnia was not reduced in the presence of 100 or 500 μM mecamylamine. A muscarinic receptor antagonist, atropine (10 μM), and a specific nicotinic receptor α7 subunit antagonist, methyllycaconatine (50 nM), blocked ∼50% of the hypoxia-evoked activity in normal preparations but were ineffective after CH. Prolonged exposure to hypoxia appears to dramatically alter chemotransmission in the carotid body, and may induce alternative neurotransmitter mechanisms and/or electrical coupling between type I cells and chemoafferent nerve terminals.


2002 ◽  
Vol 282 (1) ◽  
pp. C27-C33 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. He ◽  
J. Chen ◽  
B. Dinger ◽  
K. Sanders ◽  
K. Sundar ◽  
...  

Various heme-containing proteins have been proposed as primary molecular O2 sensors for hypoxia-sensitive type I cells in the mammalian carotid body. One set of data in particular supports the involvement of a cytochrome b NADPH oxidase that is commonly found in neutrophils. Subunits of this enzyme have been immunocytochemically localized in type I cells, and diphenyleneiodonium, an inhibitor of the oxidase, increases carotid body chemoreceptor activity. The present study evaluated immunocytochemical and functional properties of carotid bodies from normal mice and from mice with a disrupted gp91 phagocytic oxidase (gp91 phox ) DNA sequence gene knockout (KO), a gene that codes for a subunit of the neutrophilic form of NADPH oxidase. Immunostaining for tyrosine hydroxylase, a signature marker antigen for type I cells, was found in groups or lobules of cells displaying morphological features typical of the O2-sensitive cells in other species, and the incidence of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunopositive cells was similar in carotid bodies from both strains of mice. Studies of whole cell K+currents also revealed identical current-voltage relationships and current depression by hypoxia in type I cells dissociated from normal vs. KO animals. Likewise, hypoxia-evoked increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentration were not significantly different for normal and KO type I cells. The whole organ response to hypoxia was evaluated in recordings of carotid sinus nerve activity in vitro. In these experiments, responses elicited by hypoxia and by the classic chemoreceptor stimulant nicotine were also indistinguishable in normal vs. KO preparations. Our data demonstrate that carotid body function remains intact after sequence disruption of the gp91 phox gene. These findings are not in accord with the hypothesis that the phagocytic form of NADPH oxidase acts as a primary O2 sensor in arterial chemoreception.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (15) ◽  
pp. 8222
Author(s):  
Dmitry Otlyga ◽  
Ekaterina Tsvetkova ◽  
Olga Junemann ◽  
Sergey Saveliev

The evolutionary and ontogenetic development of the carotid body is still understudied. Research aimed at studying the comparative morphology of the organ at different periods in the individual development of various animal species should play a crucial role in understanding the physiology of the carotid body. However, despite more than two centuries of study, the human carotid body remains poorly understood. There are many knowledge gaps in particular related to the antenatal development of this structure. The aim of our work is to study the morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of the human carotid body in the antenatal and postnatal periods of development. We investigated the human carotid bodies from 1 embryo, 20 fetuses and 13 adults of different ages using samples obtained at autopsy. Immunohistochemistry revealed expression of βIII-tubulin and tyrosine hydroxylase in the type I cells and nerve fibers at all periods of ontogenesis; synaptophysin and PGP9.5 in the type I cells in some of the antenatal cases and all of the postnatal cases; 200 kDa neurofilaments in nerve fibers in some of the antenatal cases and all of the postnatal cases; and GFAP and S100 in the type II cells and Schwann cells in some of the antenatal cases and all of the postnatal cases. A high level of tyrosine hydroxylase in the type I cells was a distinctive feature of the antenatal carotid bodies. On the contrary, in the type I cells of adults, the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase was significantly lower. Our data suggest that the human carotid body may perform an endocrine function in the antenatal period, while in the postnatal period of development, it loses this function and becomes a chemosensory organ.


Author(s):  
Rodrigo Iturriaga ◽  
Julio Alcayaga ◽  
Mark W. Chapleau ◽  
Virend K Somers

The carotid body (CB) is the main peripheral chemoreceptor for arterial respiratory gases O2 and CO2, and pH, eliciting reflex ventilatory, cardiovascular and humoral responses to maintain homeostasis. This review examines the fundamental biology underlying CB chemoreceptor function, its contribution to integrated physiologic responses, and its role in maintaining health and potentiating disease. Emphasis will be placed on: i) Transduction mechanisms in chemoreceptor (type I) cells, highlighting the role played by the hypoxic inhibition of O2-dependent K+ channels and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, and their modification by intracellular molecules and other ionic channels; ii) Synaptic mechanisms linking type I cells and petrosal nerve terminals, focusing on the role played by the main proposed transmitters and modulatory gases, and the participation of glial cells in regulation of the chemosensory process; iii) Integrated reflex responses to CB activation, emphasizing that the responses differ dramatically depending on the nature of the physiological, pathological or environmental challenges, and the interactions of the chemoreceptor reflex with other reflexes in optimizing oxygen delivery to the tissues; and iv) The contribution of enhanced CB chemosensory discharge to autonomic and cardiorespiratory pathophysiology in obstructive sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, resistant hypertension and metabolic diseases, and how modulation of enhanced CB reactivity in disease conditions may attenuate pathophysiology.


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