The presence, subcellular distribution, species specificity and possible hypoxic stimulus-induced translocation of classical protein kinase C (cPKC) isozymes were examined in the carotid body. Carotid bodies were dissected from cats exposed in vivo to normoxic or acute hypoxic conditions and from normoxic rats. For immunohistochemistry isoform-specific monoclonal antisera to PKCalpha, PKCbetaI,...

Transmembrane bacterial chemoreceptors are extended, rod-shaped homodimers with ligand-binding sites at one end and interaction sites for signaling complex formation and histidine kinase control at the other. There are atomic-resolution structures of chemoreceptor fragments but not of intact, membrane-inserted receptors. Electron tomography of in vivo signaling complex arrays lack distinct dens...

This minireview examines data showing the locations of central chemoreceptor sites as identified by the presence of ventilatory responses to focal, mild acidification produced in unanesthetized animals in vivo, how the site-specific responses vary by arousal state, and what the emerging role of orexin might be in this state-dependent central chemoreceptor system. We comment on the organization ...

A dual-channel chromogenic and fluorogenic fused-aromatic-system-based chemoreceptor (2-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-1-((pyren-8-yl)methylene)hydrazine) (TyM) was designed for ditopic sensitivity towards heavy and transition metal ions (HTMs), such as Cu2+, in an aqueous medium and lethal CN- in a semi-aqueous medium. The chemoreceptor displayed proclivity towards the targeted analytes with a distinc...

Hypoxia initiates the neurosecretory response of the carotid body (CB) by inhibiting one or more potassium channels in the chemoreceptor cells. Oxygen-sensitive K(+) channels were first described in rabbit CB chemoreceptor cells, in which a transient outward K(+) current was reported to be reversibly inhibited by hypoxia. Although progress has been made to characterize this current with electro...

Vicario, I., A. Obeso, A. Rocher, J. R. López-Lopez, and C. González. Intracellular Ca stores in chemoreceptor cells of the rabbit carotid body: significance for chemoreception. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 279: C51–C61, 2000.—The notion that intracellular Ca (Cai ) stores play a significant role in the chemoreception process in chemoreceptor cells of the carotid body (CB) appears in the literatur...

Carotid body (CB) chemoreceptor cells detect physiological levels of hypoxia and generate a hyperventilation, homeostatic in nature, aimed to minimize the deleterious effects of hypoxia. Intimate mechanisms involved in oxygen sensing in chemoreceptor cells remain largely unknown, but reactive oxygen species (ROS) had been proposed as mediators of this process. We have determined glutathione lev...

Chemoreceptor discharges were recorded from the carotid sinus nerve of the cat in vivo, and their frequency was used as an index of receptor activity. The effects of dopamine on chemoreceptor activity were analyzed in normal and ischemic carotid bodies. Intra-arterial injections of dopamine (DA) induced various patterns of chemoreceptor responses; simple inhibition, inhibition followed by excit...

The blowfly, Phormia regina, has sensilla with four contact-chemoreceptor cells and one mechanoreceptor cell on its labellum. Three of the four chemoreceptor cells are called the sugar, the salt and the water receptor cells, respectively. However, the specificity of the remaining chemoreceptor cell, traditionally called the "fifth cell", has not yet been clarified. Referring to behavioral evalu...