TASK channels determine pH sensitivity in select respiratory neurons but do not contribute to central respiratory chemosensitivity.

ABSTRACT: Central respiratory chemoreception is the mechanism by which the CNS maintains physiologically appropriate pH and PCO2 via control of breathing. A prominent hypothesis holds that neural substrates for this process are distributed widely in the respiratory network, especially because many neurons that make up this network are chemosensitive in vitro. We and others have proposed that TASK channels (TASK-1, K(2P)3.1 and/or TASK-3, K(2P)9.1) may serve as molecular sensors for central chemoreception because they are highly expressed in multiple neuronal populations in the respiratory pathway and contribute to their pH sensitivity in vitro. To test this hypothesis, we examined the chemosensitivity of two prime candidate chemoreceptor neurons in vitro and tested ventilatory responses to CO2 using

SUBMITTER: Mulkey DK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6673518 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature