Autocrine and paracrine actions of ATP in rat carotid body

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 705-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Tse ◽  
Lei Yan ◽  
Andy K. Lee ◽  
Frederick W. Tse

Carotid bodies are peripheral chemoreceptors that detect lowering of arterial blood O2 level. The carotid body comprises clusters of glomus (type I) cells surrounded by glial-like sustentacular (type II) cells. Hypoxia triggers depolarization and cytosolic [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]i) elevation in glomus cells, resulting in the release of multiple transmitters, including ATP. While ATP has been shown to be an important excitatory transmitter in the stimulation of carotid sinus nerve, there is considerable evidence that ATP exerts autocrine and paracrine actions in carotid body. ATP acting via P2Y1 receptors, causes hyperpolarization in glomus cells and inhibits the hypoxia-mediated [Ca2+]i rise. In contrast, adenosine (an ATP metabolite) triggers depolarization and [Ca2+]i rise in glomus cells via A2A receptors. We suggest that during prolonged hypoxia, the negative and positive feedback actions of ATP and adenosine may result in an oscillatory Ca2+ signal in glomus cells. Such mechanisms may allow cyclic release of transmitters from glomus cells during prolonged hypoxia without causing cellular damage from a persistent [Ca2+]i rise. ATP also stimulates intracellular Ca2+ release in sustentacular cells via P2Y2 receptors. The autocine and paracrine actions of ATP suggest that ATP has important roles in coordinating chemosensory transmission in the carotid body.

2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (2) ◽  
pp. L273-L282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuichi Kobayashi ◽  
Laura Conforti ◽  
David E. Millhorn

The present study was undertaken to determine whether rat carotid bodies express adenosine (Ado) A2A receptors and whether this receptor is involved in the cellular response to hypoxia. Our results demonstrate that rat carotid bodies express the A2A and A2B Ado receptor mRNAs but not the A1 or A3 receptor mRNAs as determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. In situ hybridization confirmed the expression of the A2A receptor mRNA. Immunohistochemical studies further showed that the A2A receptor is expressed in the carotid body and that it is colocalized with tyrosine hydroxylase in type I cells. Whole cell voltage-clamp studies using isolated type I cells showed that Ado inhibited the voltage-dependent Ca2+ currents and that this inhibition was abolished by the selective A2A receptor antagonist ZM-241385. Ca2+ imaging studies using fura 2 revealed that exposure to severe hypoxia induced elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in type I cells and that extracellularly applied Ado significantly attenuated the hypoxia-induced elevation of [Ca2+]i. Taken together, our findings indicate that A2A receptors are present in type I cells and that activation of A2Areceptors modulates Ca2+ accumulation during hypoxia. This mechanism may play a role in regulating intracellular Ca2+homeostasis and cellular excitability during hypoxia.


2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (1) ◽  
pp. L36-L42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo L. T. Dasso ◽  
Keith J. Buckler ◽  
Richard D. Vaughan-Jones

The effects of hypercapnic acidosis and hypoxia on intracellular Ca2+concentration ([Ca2+]i) were determined with Indo 1 in enzymatically isolated single type I cells from neonatal rat carotid bodies. Type I cells responded to graded hypoxic stimuli with graded [Ca2+]i rises. The percentage of cells responding was also dependent on the severity of the hypoxic stimulus. Raising CO2 from 5 to 10 or 20% elicited a significant increase in [Ca2+]i in the same cells as those that responded to hypoxia. Thus both stimuli can be sensed by each individual cell. When combinations of hypoxic and acidic stimuli were given simultaneously, the responses were invariably greater than the response to either stimulus given alone. Indeed, in most cases, the response to hypercapnia was slightly potentiated by hypoxia. These data provide the first evidence that the classic synergy between hypoxic and hypercapnic stimuli observed in the intact carotid body may, in part, be an inherent property of the type I cell.


2015 ◽  
Vol 308 (2) ◽  
pp. C146-C154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladislav V. Makarenko ◽  
Ying-Jie Peng ◽  
Guoxiang Yuan ◽  
Aaron P. Fox ◽  
Ganesh K. Kumar ◽  
...  

Arterial blood O2 levels are detected by specialized sensory organs called carotid bodies. Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (VGCCs) are important for carotid body O2 sensing. Given that T-type VGCCs contribute to nociceptive sensation, we hypothesized that they participate in carotid body O2 sensing. The rat carotid body expresses high levels of mRNA encoding the α1H-subunit, and α1H protein is localized to glomus cells, the primary O2-sensing cells in the chemoreceptor tissue, suggesting that CaV3.2 is the major T-type VGCC isoform expressed in the carotid body. Mibefradil and TTA-A2, selective blockers of the T-type VGCC, markedly attenuated elevation of hypoxia-evoked intracellular Ca2+ concentration, secretion of catecholamines from glomus cells, and sensory excitation of the rat carotid body. Similar results were obtained in the carotid body and glomus cells from CaV3.2 knockout ( Cacna1h−/−) mice. Since cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE)-derived H2S is a critical mediator of the carotid body response to hypoxia, the role of T-type VGCCs in H2S-mediated O2 sensing was examined. Like hypoxia, NaHS, a H2S donor, increased intracellular Ca2+ concentration and augmented carotid body sensory nerve activity in wild-type mice, and these effects were markedly attenuated in Cacna1h−/− mice. In wild-type mice, TTA-A2 markedly attenuated glomus cell and carotid body sensory nerve responses to hypoxia, and these effects were absent in CSE knockout mice. These results demonstrate that CaV3.2 T-type VGCCs contribute to the H2S-mediated carotid body response to hypoxia.


Author(s):  
Fadhil Al-Lami ◽  
R.G. Murray

Although the fine structure of the carotid body has been described in several recent reports, uncertainties remain, and the morphological effects of anoxia on the carotid body cells of the cat have never been reported. We have, therefore, studied the fine structure of the carotid body both in normal and severely anoxic cats, and to test the specificity of the effects, have compared them with the effects on adrenal medulla, kidney, and liver of the same animals. Carotid bodies of 50 normal and 15 severely anoxic cats (9% oxygen in nitrogen) were studied. Glutaraldehyde followed by OsO4 fixations, Epon 812 embedding, and uranyl acetate and lead citrate staining, were the technics employed.We have called the two types of glomus cells enclosed and enclosing cells. They correspond to those previously designated as chemoreceptor and sustentacular cells respectively (1). The enclosed cells forming the vast majority, are irregular in shape with many processes and occasional peripheral densities (Fig. 1).


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.


Antioxidants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Teresa Gallego-Martin ◽  
Jesus Prieto-Lloret ◽  
Philip Aaronson ◽  
Asuncion Rocher ◽  
Ana Obeso

Carotid body (CB) chemoreceptor cells sense arterial blood PO2, generating a neurosecretory response proportional to the intensity of hypoxia. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a physiological gaseous messenger that is proposed to act as an oxygen sensor in CBs, although this concept remains controversial. In the present study we have used the H2S scavenger and vitamin B12 analog hydroxycobalamin (Cbl) as a new tool to investigate the involvement of endogenous H2S in CB oxygen sensing. We observed that the slow-release sulfide donor GYY4137 elicited catecholamine release from isolated whole carotid bodies, and that Cbl prevented this response. Cbl also abolished the rise in [Ca2+]i evoked by 50 µM NaHS in enzymatically dispersed CB glomus cells. Moreover, Cbl markedly inhibited the catecholamine release and [Ca2+]i rise caused by hypoxia in isolated CBs and dispersed glomus cells, respectively, whereas it did not alter these responses when they were evoked by high [K+]e. The L-type Ca2+ channel blocker nifedipine slightly inhibited the rise in CB chemoreceptor cells [Ca2+]i elicited by sulfide, whilst causing a somewhat larger attenuation of the hypoxia-induced Ca2+ signal. We conclude that Cbl is a useful and specific tool for studying the function of H2S in cells. Based on its effects on the CB chemoreceptor cells we propose that endogenous H2S is an amplifier of the hypoxic transduction cascade which acts mainly by stimulating non-L-type Ca2+ channels.


1968 ◽  
Vol 170 (1019) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  

Application of the Falck & Hillarp histochemical technique to the rabbit carotid body reveals three fluorescent structures: brilliantly fluorescent Type I cells, varicose perivascular nerves, and weakly fluorescent non-varicose fibres. The Type I cell fluorescence is similar to that of a dopamine model system and has the appropriate activation and emission maxima. A catecholamine, identified as dopamine, has been extracted from homogenized carotid bodies, and estimated by the trihydroxyindole procedure. The concentration of the dopamine in the carotid body is estimated to be 20 to 40 μ g/g. This is very much greater than that of the noradrenaline present, of which there is about 1·5 μ g/g. The fluorescence of the Type I cells is attributed to the dopamine and it is suggested that the amine may be granule-bound. The unusually high concentration of dopamine could imply that it is not merely a metabolic intermediate in the carotid body.


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.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (4) ◽  
pp. C845-C852 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. He ◽  
B. Dinger ◽  
S. Fidone

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and its analog, atriopeptin III (APIII), inhibit carotid body chemoreceptor nerve activity evoked by hypoxia. In the present study, we have examined the hypothesis that the inhibitory effects of ANP and APIII are mediated by cyclic GMP and protein kinase G (PKG) via the phosphorylation and/or dephosphorylation of K+ and Ca2+ channel proteins that are involved in regulating the response of carotid body chemosensory type I cells to low-O2 stimuli. In freshly dissociated rabbit type I cells, we examined the effects of a PKG inhibitor, KT-5823, and an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), okadaic acid (OA), on K+ and Ca2+ currents. We also investigated the effects of these specific inhibitors on intracellular Ca2+ concentration and carotid sinus nerve (CSN) activity under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Voltage-dependent K+ currents were depressed by hypoxia, and this effect was significantly reduced by 100 nM APIII. The effect of APIII on this current was reversed in the presence of either 1 μM KT-5823 or 100 nM OA. Likewise, these drugs retarded the depression of voltage-gated Ca2+ currents induced by APIII. Furthermore, APIII depressed hypoxia-evoked elevations of intracellular Ca2+, an effect that was also reversed by OA and KT-5823. Finally, CSN activity evoked by hypoxia was decreased in the presence of 100 nM APIII, and was partially restored when APIII was presented along with 100 nM OA. These results suggest that ANP initiates a cascade of events involving PKG and PP2A, which culminates in the dephosphorylation of K+ and Ca2+ channel proteins in the chemosensory type I cells.


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