In vivo fluorescence microscopy and electron cryo-tomography have revealed that chemoreceptors self-assemble into extended honeycomb lattices of chemoreceptor trimers with a well-defined relative orientation of trimers. The signaling response of the observed chemoreceptor lattices is remarkable for its extreme sensitivity, which relies crucially on cooperative interactions among chemoreceptor t...

For most organisms, chemosensation is critical for survival and is mediated by large families of chemoreceptor proteins, whose expression must be tuned appropriately to changes in the chemical environment. We asked whether expression of chemoreceptor genes that are clustered in the genome would be regulated independently; whether expression of certain chemoreceptor genes would be especially sen...

We determined the presence of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases (CaMKs), a family of multifunctional proteins engaged in Ca(2+)-linked signaling, in carotid body chemoreceptor cells which are critical for the hypoxia-sensing. Carotid bodies were dissected from anesthetized normoxic adult Wistar rats and were double stained for individual CaMKs and for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a mark...

Changes in left ventricular performance, stroke volume, and peripheral vascular resistance were studied in dogs after combined and separate stimulation of the aortic and carotid chemoreceptors. Selective stimulation of the aortic chemoreceptors produced an immediate increase in myocardial contractility as judged by the force developed by a strain gauge arch sewn into the left ventricular myocar...

The participation of the carotid body (CB) in glucose homeostasis and evidence obtained in simplified cultured CB slices or dissociated cells have led to the proposal that CB chemoreceptor cells are glucoreceptors. However, data generated in intact, freshly excised organs deny CB chemoreceptor cells' glucosensing properties. The physiological significance of the contention has prompted the pres...

The carotid body is a sensory chemoreceptor organ located in the vicinity of the carotid bifurcation. Structurally it is composed of cell clusters formed by chemoreceptor and supporting cells. The sensory nerve endings of the carotid sinus nerve penetrate the clusters to synapse with chemoreceptor cells. The carotid body plays an important role in the control of ventilation during hypoxia, hype...

Bacterial chemoreceptors undergo conformational changes in response to variations in the concentration of extracellular ligands. These changes in chemoreceptor structure initiate a series of signaling events that ultimately result in regulation of rotation of the flagellar motor. Here we have used cryo-electron tomography combined with 3D averaging to determine the in situ structure of chemorec...

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is well known to be associated with both an enhanced chemoreceptor reflex and an augmented cardiac "sympathetic afferent reflex" (CSAR). The augmentation of the CSAR may play an important role in the enhanced chemoreceptor reflex in the CHF state because the same central areas are involved in the sympathetic outputs of both reflexes. We determined whether chemical an...

The modification by the carotid baroreceptors of the vascular responses to chemoreceptor stimulation was studied in anesthetized, artificially ventilated, vagotomized dogs. The carotid bifurcations were vascularly isolated and perfused with blood at constant pressures of 134, 215, and 51 mm Hg to cause intermediate, maximal, and minimal inhibition, respectively, of the vasomotor center. At each...

Catecholaminergic C1 cells of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) are key determinants of the sympathoexcitatory response to peripheral chemoreceptor activation. Overactivation of this reflex is thought to contribute to increased sympathetic activity and hypertension; however, molecular mechanisms linking peripheral chemoreceptor drive to hypertension remain poorly understood. We have rece...