Cellular Mechanisms of Hypoxic Chemotransduction in Avian Carotid Bodies

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IBN-9723783 PI: Hempleman Specialized chemosensory cells in the walls of blood vessels leading to the head of terrestrial vertebrates form receptor organs called the carotid bodies. These nerve cells respond when the oxygen content of the blood is too low, the condition called hypoxia. Birds and mammals with high metabolic rates depend on successful reflexes to maintain high blood oxygenation, and these reflexes are particularly needed when adapting to high altitudes with low oxygen availability. In mammals it is known that the cellular responses to hypoxia depend on a membrane channel for potassium ions. In birds we know very little, although some high-flying birds function at altitudes where most vertebrates would be unconscious. This project uses cellular electrophysiological techniques and calcium-sensitive dyes to investigate the chemotransduction mechanisms for blood oxygen in birds. Results will provide the first analysis of oxygen transduction mechanisms in non-mammalian carotid bodies, and will have an impact beyond sensory systems to evolutionary and comparative physiology, and to understanding environmental adaptations.