Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Chemoreceptor Cells”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

Localization of molluscan cardioexcitatory tetrapeptide in the brain of African Cichlid fish (Haplochromis burtoni) revealed by immunocytochemistry.

The FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity was investigated in the brain of African cichlid fish, Haplochromis burtoni, in which sexual maturation is under social control. In both dominant and subdominant males and females, the FMRFamide immunoreactive (ir) cells were found only in the nucleus olfacto-retinalis and in the nucleus of the midbrain tegmentum. However, several FMRFamide-ir fibers were seen in the olfactory bulb and throughout the entire brain of both male morphs and female fish. As the role of nucleus olfacto-retinalis is well known in chemoreception, these results suggest the involvement of FMFRamide-like peptide in the chemosensory control of reproductive behavior in this species.

Animals↗

5-HT5a receptors in the carotid body chemoreception pathway of rat.

By using a specific antibody, 5-HT5a receptor-like immunoreactivity was revealed in the chemoreceptive, oxygen sensitive, carotid body (CB) type I cells, and neurons of the petrosal ganglion (PG) and the superior cervical ganglion (SCG) in rat. mRNA encoding for the 5-HTa receptor was also detected in these tissues by RT-PCR, and confirmed with DNA sequencing. The present study provides direct evidence that 5-HT5a receptors are expressed in the CB, PG and SCG, which all likely play fundamental roles in arterial chemoreception.

Afferent Pathways↗

Electrophysiological properties of the rat area postrema neurons displaying both the transient outward current and the hyperpolarization-activated inward current.

We found coexistence of the transient outward potassium current (I(TO)) and the hyperpolarization-activated inward current (I(H)) in 26 of 82 area postrema neurons tested using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in rat brain slices. Cells displaying both the I(TO) and the I(H) typically showed "voltage sag" and "rebound potentials" in response to hyperpolarizing current injection and repetitive firing with strong adaptation was seen with depolarizing current injection. When cells were held at membrane potentials more negative than the resting level (e.g., -85mV), the afterhyperpolarization was enhanced. Voltage clamp recordings were performed to examine the characteristics of I(TO) and I(H) in and the contributions of these currents to the electroresponsiveness of area postrema cells. We show, in this study, the voltage-dependent properties of I(H) and I(TO), and how these currents modulate the intrinsic membrane properties of area postrema cells. We discuss the functional significance of the specific subset of area postrema neurons whose cells have both I(H) and I(TO) channels.

Action Potentials↗

A novel family of candidate pheromone receptors in mammals.

Pheromonal activation of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) elicits genetically preprogrammed behaviors and physiological changes in mammals. We have identified a novel gene family encoding over one hundred VNO specific receptors, the V3Rs. V3R sequences are highly similar to each other and appear distantly related to the putative pheromone receptors, V1Rs, and the taste receptors, T2Rs. Within the VNO, V3R-positive neurons are distinct from neurons expressing the pheromone receptor families V1R and V2R. The V3Rs are likely to represent a new large family of pheromone receptors in mammals. Multiple V3R-related human sequences have been identified, including one clone retaining the capacity to create a complete and functional transcript. Our data uncover a striking complexity in the molecular and cellular organization of the VNO and provide an essential framework for the study of pheromone signaling in mammals.

Animals↗

Olfaction and odor discrimination are mediated by the C. elegans guanylyl cyclase ODR-1.

Animals in complex environments must discriminate between salient and uninformative sensory cues. Caenorhabditis elegans uses one pair of olfactory neurons called AWC to sense many different odorants, yet the animal can distinguish each odorant from the others in discrimination assays. We demonstrate that the transmembrane guanylyl cyclase ODR-1 is essential for responses to all AWC-sensed odorants. ODR-1 appears to be a shared signaling component downstream of odorant receptors. Overexpression of ODR-1 protein indicates that ODR-1 can influence odor discrimination and adaptation as well as olfaction. Adaptation to one odorant, butanone, is disrupted by ODR-1 overexpression. Olfactory discrimination is also disrupted by ODR-1 overexpression, probably by overproduction of the shared second messenger cGMP. We propose that AWC odorant signaling pathways are insulated to permit odor discrimination.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

G proteins mediate changes in cell shape by stabilizing the axis of polarity.

Upon exposure to mating pheromone, yeast cells change their form to pear-shaped shmoos. We looked at pheromone-dependent cell shape changes in mutants that are unable to orient growth during mating and unable to choose a bud site. In these double mutants, cell surface growth, secretion sites, cytoskeleton, and pheromone receptors are spread out, explaining why these cells are round. In contrast, polarity establishment proteins localize to discrete sites in these mutants. However, the location of these sites wanders. Thus, these mutants are able to initiate polarized growth but fail to maintain the location of growth sites. Our results demonstrate that stabilization of the growth axis requires positional signaling from either the pheromone receptor or specific bud site selection proteins.

Cell Compartmentation↗

Sex and the MHC.

Major histocompatibility complex class Ib molecules may play a surprising role in pheromone detection in mammals.

Animals↗

Structure and dynamics of transmembrane signaling by the Escherichia coli aspartate receptor.

The structure of the cytosolic extension of the first transmembrane region (TM1) of the Escherichia coli aspartate receptor (residues 3, 4, and 5) and conformational changes within that region have been characterized by targeted cross-linking studies and by measurement of the effect of aspartate binding on cross-linking and methylation rates and compared with the periplasmic extension of the same helix. These experiments show that (1) the cytosolic extension of TM1 is helical, with residues 4 and 4' closest together at the dimer interface; (2) the helix is more solvent-exposed at the cytosolic side of the membrane than on the periplasmic side; and (3) aspartate binding enhances the rate of cross-linking at Cys 4, and the resulting cross-linked receptor displays aspartate-induced transmembrane increases in methylation by the cytoplasmic methylase (the CheR protein). We conclude that aspartate induces a conformational change that does not involve large intersubunit movements that lead to an increase in distance between the cytosolic ends of the first membrane-spanning helices; rather, the motion involved is largely contained within individual subunits, possibly resulting in a small movement between positions 4 and 4'.

Aspartic Acid↗

Functional facets of the pulmonary neuroendocrine system.

Pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs) have been around for 60 years in the scientific literature, although phylogenetically they are ancient. Their traditionally ascribed functions include chemoreception and regulation of lung maturation and growth. There is recent evidence that neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in the lung is regulated by genes and pathways that are conserved in the development of the nervous system from Drosophila to humans (such as achaete-scute homolog-1), or implicated in the carcinogenesis of the nervous or NE system (such as the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene). In addition, complex neural networks are in place to regulate chemosensory and other functions. Even solitary PNECs appear to be innervated. For the first time ever, we have mouse models for lung NE carcinomas, including the most common and virulent small cell lung carcinoma. Moreover, PNECs may be important for inflammatory responses, and pivotal for lung stem cell niches. These discoveries signify an exciting new era for PNECs and are likely to have therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

Animals↗

External optimal control of self-organisation dynamics in a chemotaxis reaction diffusion system.

Detailed quantitative understanding and specific external control of cellular behaviour are general long-term goals of modem bioscience research activities in systems biology. Pattern formation and self-organisation processes both in single cells and in distributed cell populations are phenomena which are highly significant for the functionality of life, because life requires to maintain a highly organised spatiotemporal system structure. In particular chemotaxis is crucial for various biological aspects of intercellular signalling and cell aggregation. As an example for model based control of self-organising biological systems, we describe numerical optimal control of E. coli bacterial chemotaxis based on a 1-D two-component partial differential equation (PDE) model of reaction diffusion type. We present a numerical scheme to force cell aggregation patterns to particular desired results by applying a boundary influx control of chemoattractant without interfering with the system itself. Optimal controls are numerically computed by using a specially tailored interior point optimisation technique applied to a direct collocation discretisation of the control function and the PDE constraint. The objective to be minimised is the deviation of a desired cell distribution from the cell density, which results from the dynamics of the controlled system.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Expression of bitter taste receptors of the T2R family in the gastrointestinal tract and enteroendocrine STC-1 cells.

Although a role for the gastric and intestinal mucosa in molecular sensing has been known for decades, the initial molecular recognition events that sense the chemical composition of the luminal contents has remained elusive. Here we identified putative taste receptor gene transcripts in the gastrointestinal tract. Our results, using reverse transcriptase-PCR, demonstrate the presence of transcripts corresponding to multiple members of the T2R family of bitter taste receptors in the antral and fundic gastric mucosa as well as in the lining of the duodenum. In addition, cDNA clones of T2R receptors were detected in a rat gastric endocrine cell cDNA library, suggesting that these receptors are expressed, at least partly, in enteroendocrine cells. Accordingly, expression of multiple T2R receptors also was found in STC-1 cells, an enteroendocrine cell line. The expression of alpha subunits of G proteins implicated in intracellular taste signal transduction, namely Galpha(gust), and Galpha(t)-(2), also was demonstrated in the gastrointestinal mucosa as well as in STC-1 cells, as revealed by reverse transcriptase-PCR and DNA sequencing, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. Furthermore, addition of compounds widely used in bitter taste signaling (e.g., denatonium, phenylthiocarbamide, 6-n-propil-2-thiouracil, and cycloheximide) to STC-1 cells promoted a rapid increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. These results demonstrate the expression of bitter taste receptors of the T2R family in the mouse and rat gastrointestinal tract.

Animals↗

Cellular identification of water gustatory receptor neurons and their central projection pattern in Drosophila.

Water perception is important for insects, because they are particularly vulnerable to water loss because their body size is small. In Drosophila, gustatory receptor neurons are located at the base of the taste sensilla on the labellum, tarsi, and wing margins. One of the gustatory receptor neurons in typical sensilla is known to respond to water. To reveal the neural mechanisms of water perception in Drosophila, it is necessary to identify water receptor neurons and their projection patterns. We used a Gal4 enhancer trap strain in which GAL4 is expressed in a single gustatory receptor neuron in each sensillum on the labellum. We investigated the function of these neurons by expressing the upstream activating sequence transgenes, shibire(ts1), tetanus toxin light chain, or diphtheria toxin A chain. Results from the proboscis extension reflex test and electrophysiological recordings indicated that the GAL4-expressing neurons respond to water. We show here that the water receptor neurons project to a specific region in the subesophageal ganglion, thus revealing the water taste sensory map in Drosophila.

Animals↗

Receptor-mediated activation of a phospholipase A2 in rabbit neutrophil plasma membrane.

Using the exogenous substrate [1-14C]oleate-labeled autoclaved Escherichia coli, we have demonstrated that the chemotactic factors fMet-Leu-Phe, complement component C5a, and leukotriene B4 [(5S,12R)-dihydroxy-6-cis,8-trans,11-trans,14-cis-icosatetraenoic acid] stimulate a phospholipase A2 of isolated plasma membranes of rabbit peritoneal neutrophils. Each of the chemotactic factors shows a biphasic concentration dependence with the optimal concentrations occurring at 1, 10, and 0.1 nM, respectively. The specific antagonists of fMet-Leu-Phe binding, carbobenzoxy-Phe-Met and t-butoxycarbonyl-Phe-Leu-Phe, effectively block the stimulation by fMet-Leu-Phe, indicating that the activation is receptor mediated. delta 6-trans-leukotriene [(5S-12R)-dihydroxy-all-trans-6,8,10,14-icosatetraenoic acid], a biologically inactive stereoisomer of leukotriene B4, does not stimulate phospholipase activity, suggesting that the enhancement by leukotriene B4 is also receptor mediated. The unstimulated and activated phospholipase exhibit a broad range of maximal activity between pH 7.0 and pH 8.5, both with an optimal pH of 8.5. The activation of the phospholipase by fMet-Leu-Phe is completely calcium dependent; no increase in activity is demonstrable if fMet-Leu-Phe is added in the absence of exogenous calcium or in the presence of EGTA. In contrast, the unstimulated plasma membrane activity of the phospholipase, as well as the activity arising after stimulation, is relatively insensitive to the concentration of calcium, being inhibited by less than 50% in the presence of 10 mM EGTA. The phospholipase hydrolyzes 1-[1-14C]palmitoyl-2-acyl-sn-glycerophosphoethanolamine to form only radioactive lysophosphatidylethanolamine as the product, indicating that the enzyme has an A2 specificity.

Animals↗