Shal-type (Kv4) channels are expressed in a large variety of tissues, where they contribute to transient voltage-dependent K+ currents. Kv4 are the molecular correlate of the A-type current of neurons (I(SA)), the fast component of I(TO) current in the heart, and also of the oxygen-sensitive K+ current (K(O2)) in rabbit carotid body (CB) chemoreceptor cells. The enormous degree of variability i...

Sterni, L. M., O. S. Bamford, M. J. Wasicko, and J. L. Carroll. Chronic hypoxia abolished the postnatal increase in carotid body type I cell sensitivity to hypoxia. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol. 21): L645–L652, 1999.—The O2 sensitivity of carotid chemoreceptor type I cells is low just after birth and increases with postnatal age. Chronic hypoxia during postnatal maturation blunt...

Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide with over 500 million cases annually. Chemotaxis and motility have been identified as important virulence factors associated with C. jejuni colonisation. Group A transducer-like proteins (Tlps) are responsible for sensing the external environment for bacterial movement to or away from a chemical gradient or stimulus. I...

BACKGROUND Heart failure is characterized by increased ventilation during exercise, which is positively related to increased peripheral and central chemoreceptor sensitivity. Heart transplantation does not normalize the ventilatory response to exercise, and its effects on the chemoreflex control of ventilation remain unknown. We tested the hypothesis that chemoreceptor sensitivity is increased ...

An enhancement of peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity contributes to sympathetic hyperactivity in chronic heart failure (CHF) rabbits. The enhanced chemoreflex function in CHF involves augmented carotid body (CB) chemoreceptor activity via upregulation of the angiotensin II (ANG II) type 1 (AT(1))-receptor pathway and downregulation of the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)-nitric oxide (NO) ...