Mj. Wasicko et al., Resetting and postnatal maturation of oxygen chemosensitivity in rat carotid chemoreceptor cells, J PHYSL LON, 514(2), 1999, pp. 493-503
1. Carotid chemoreceptor sensitivity is minimal immediately after birth and
increases with postnatal age. In the present study we have investigated th
e peri- and postnatal developmental time course of [Ca2+](i) responses to h
ypoxia in clusters of type I cells isolated from near-term fetal rats and r
ats that were 1, 3, 7, 11, 14 and 21 days old, using the Ca2+-sensitive flu
oroprobe fura-2.
2. In type I cells from all age groups a graded increase in [Ca2+](i) occur
red in response to lowering the P-O2 from 150 mmHg to 70, 35, 14, 7, 2 and
0 mmHg. The graded [Ca2+](i) response to hypoxia was hyperbolic at all ages
.
3. Type I cells from rats near-term fetal to 1 day old exhibited small [Ca2
+](i) responses, mainly to the most severe levels of hypoxia. After day 1,
an increase in the [Ca2+](i) responses to submaximal hypoxia stimulation re
sulted in a rightward shift in the 0, response curve. Using the Delta[Ca2+]
(i) between 35 and 2 mmHg P-O2 as an index of O-2 sensitivity, type I cell
O-2 sensitivity increased approximately 4- to 5-fold between near-term feta
l to 1 day old and 11 to 14 days of age.
4. Exposure to elevated extracellular potassium (10, 20 and 40 mM K+) cause
d a dose-dependent [Ca2+](i) rise in type I cells from all age groups. Ther
e were no age-related changes in [Ca2+](i) responses to any level of K+ bet
ween near-term fetal and 21 days.
5. We conclude that the maximal type I cell [Ca2+](i) response to anoxia, a
s well as the sensitivity to submaximal hypoxic stimulation, of rats aged f
rom near-term fetal to 21 days depends on the level of postnatal maturity.
The lack of an age-related increase in the [Ca2+](i) response to elevated K
+ during the timeframe of maximal development of O-2 sensitivity suggests t
hat resetting involves maturation of O-2 sensing, rather than non-specific
developmental changes in the [Ca2+](i) rise resulting from depolarization.