Release of Dopamine from Carotid Sinus Nerve Fibers Innervating Type I Cells in the Cat Carotid Body

Neurosignals ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Almaraz ◽  
Z.-Z. Wang ◽  
L.J. Stensaas ◽  
S.J. Fidone
1999 ◽  
Vol 276 (5) ◽  
pp. L875-L884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen S. Bamford ◽  
Laura M. Sterni ◽  
Michael J. Wasicko ◽  
Marshall H. Montrose ◽  
John L. Carroll

The site of postnatal maturation of carotid body chemoreception is unclear. To test the hypothesis that maturation occurs synchronously in type I cells and the whole carotid body, the development of changes in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration responses to hypoxia, CO2, and combined challenges was studied with fluorescence microscopy in type I cells and compared with the development of carotid sinus nerve (CSN) responses recorded in vitro from term fetal to 3-wk animals. Type I cell responses to all challenges increased between 1 and 8 days and then remained constant, with no multiplicative O2-CO2interaction at any age. The CSN response to hypoxia also matured by 8 days, but CSN responses to CO2 did not change significantly with age. Multiplicative O2-CO2interaction occurred in the CSN response at 2–3 wk but not in younger groups. We conclude that type I cell maturation underlies maturation of the CSN response to hypoxia. However, because development of responses to CO2 and combined hypoxia-CO2 challenges differed between type I cells and the CSN, responses to these stimuli must mature at other, unidentified sites within the developing carotid body.


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.


1966 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 563-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Biscoe ◽  
W. E. Stehbens

An electron microscope investigation was made of the carotid body in the cat and the rabbit. In thin-walled blood vessels the endothelium was fenestrated. Larger vessels were surrounded by a layer of smooth muscle fibers. Among the numerous blood vessels lay groups of cells of two types covered by basement membranes. Aggregates of Type I cells were invested by Type II cells, though occasionally cytoplasmic extensions were covered by basement membrane only. Type I cells contained many electron-opaque cored vesicles (350 to 1900 A in diameter) resembling those in endocrine secretory cells. Type II cells covered nerve endings terminating on Type I cells and enclosed nerve fibers in much the same manner as Schwann cells. The nerve endings contained numerous microvesicles (∼500 A in diameter), mitochondria, glycogen granules, and a few electron-opaque cored vesicles. Junctions between nerve endings and Type I cells were associated with regions of increased density in both intercellular spaces and the adjoining cytoplasm. Cilia of the 9 + 0 fibril pattern were observed in Type I and Type II cells and pericytes. Nonmyelinated nerve fibers, often containing microvesicles, mitochondria, and a few electron-opaque cored vesicles (650 to 1000 A in diameter) were present in Schwann cells, many of which were situated close to blood vessels Ganglion cells near the periphery of the gland, fibrocytes, and segments of unidentified cells were also seen. It was concluded that, according to present concepts of the structure of nerve endings, those endings related to Type I cells could be efferent or afferent.


2006 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. He ◽  
J. Chen ◽  
B. Dinger ◽  
L. Stensaas ◽  
S. Fidone

Recent studies indicate that chemoafferent nerve fiber excitation in the rat carotid body is mediated by acetylcholine and ATP, acting at nicotinic cholinergic receptors and P2X2 purinoceptors, respectively. We previously demonstrated that, after a 10- to 14-day exposure to chronic hypoxia (CH), the nicotinic cholinergic receptor blocker mecamylamine no longer inhibits rat carotid sinus nerve (CSN) activity evoked by an acute hypoxic challenge. The present experiments examined the effects of CH (9–16 days at 380 Torr) on the expression of P2X2 purinoceptors in carotid body and chemoafferent neurons, as well as the effectiveness of P2X2 receptor blocking drugs on CSN activity evoked by hypoxia. In the normal carotid body, immunocytochemical studies demonstrated a dense plexus of P2X2-positive nerve fibers penetrating lobules of type I cells. In addition, type I cells were lightly stained, indicating P2X2 receptor expression. After CH, the intensity of P2X2 receptor immunostaining was maintained in chemosensory type I cells and in the soma of chemoafferent neurons. P2 receptor expression on type I cells was confirmed by demonstrations of ATP-evoked increased intracellular Ca2+; this response was modulated by simultaneous exposure to hypoxia. In normal preparations, CSN activity evoked by hypoxia in vitro was 65% inhibited in the presence of specific P2X2 receptor antagonists. However, unlike the absence of mecamylamine action after CH, P2X2 antagonists remained effective against hypoxia-evoked activity after CH. Our findings indicate that ATP acting at P2X2 receptors contributes to adjusted chemoreceptor activity after CH, indicating a possible role for purinergic mechanisms in the adaptation of the carotid body in a chronic low-O2 environment.


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.


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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