Abstract
Spexin is a recently identified peptide which is expressed in many different endocrine and nervous tissues. Due to the absence of data regarding spexin expression in the carotid body, the first aim of the present study was to investigate, through immunohistochemistry and Real-Time PCR, the expression and distribution of spexin in the rat and human carotid body. Moreover, the carotid body is known to undergo various structural and functional modifications in response to hyperoxic stimuli during the first postnatal period. Thus, we also evaluated if hyperoxia during the first postnatal weeks may produce changes in the spexin expression. Materials consisted of carotid bodies obtained at autopsy from five human adult subjects and sampled from 10 six-weeks old Sprague–Dawley rats. Five rats were maintained in normoxia for the first six postnatal weeks; five rats were exposed to 60% hyperoxia for 2 weeks and then maintained in normoxia for other 4 weeks. Diffuse anti-spexin immunoreactivity was found in type I cells of both humans and rats. No spexin immunoreactivity was visible in the type II cells. Hyperoxia exposure during the first 2 weeks of postnatal life caused a reduction of volume in the carotid body still apparent after 4 weeks of normoxia. Using real-time PCR, spexin expression was 6–7 times higher in hyperoxia-exposed rats than in normoxia-exposed ones. The expression of spexin in type I cells suggests a possible modulator role in peripheral chemoreception. Moreover, the ascertained role of spexin in the regulation of cell proliferation in other tissues (e.g., adrenal gland cortex) suggests a possible role of spexin also in the hyperoxia-induced plasticity of the carotid body.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bavis RW (2005) Developmental plasticity of the hypoxic ventilatory response after perinatal hyperoxia and hypoxia. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 149:287–299
Bavis RW, Wenninger JM, Miller BM, Dmitrieff EF, Olson EB Jr, Mitchell GS, Bisgard GE (2008) Respiratory plasticity after perinatal hyperoxia is not prevented by antioxidant supplementation. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 160:301–312
Bisgard GE, Olson EB Jr, Wang ZY, Bavis RW, Fuller DD, Mitchell GS (2003) Adult carotid chemoafferent responses to hypoxia after 1, 2, and 4 wk of postnatal hyperoxia. J Appl Physiol 95:946–952
Carroll JL, Kim I, Dbouk H, Yang DJ, Bavis RW, Donnelly DF (2009) Time-dependence of hyperoxia-induced impairment in peripheral chemoreceptor activity and glomus cell calcium response. Adv Exp Med Biol 648:299–306
Di Giulio C, Di Muzio M, Sabatino G, Spoletini L, Amicarelli F, Di Ilio C, Modesti A (1998) Effect of chronic hyperoxia on young and old rat carotid body ultrastructure. Exp Gerontol 33:319–329
Dmitrieff EF, Wilson JT, Dunmire KB, Bavis RW (2011) Chronic hyperoxia alters the expression of neurotrophic factors in the carotid body of neonatal rats. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 175:220–227
Donnelly DF (2000) Developmental aspects of oxygen sensing by the carotid body. J Appl Physiol 88:2296–2301
Erickson JT, Mayer C, Jawa A, Ling L, Olson EB Jr, Vidruk EH, Mitchell GS, Katz DM (1998) Chemoafferent degeneration and carotid body hypoplasia following chronic hyperoxia in newborn rats. J Physiol 509:519–526
Fuller DD, Wang ZY, Ling L, Olson EB, Bisgard GE, Mitchell GS (2001) Induced recovery of hypoxic phrenic responses in adult rats exposed to hyperoxia for the first month of life. J Physiol 536:917–926
Fuller DD, Bavis RW, Vidruk EH, Wang ZY, Olson EB Jr, Bisgard GE, Mitchell GS (2002) Life-long impairment of hypoxic phrenic responses in rats following 1 month of developmental hyperoxia. J Physiol 538:947–955
Gauda EB, Lawson EE (2000) Developmental influences on carotid body responses to hypoxia. Respir Physiol 121:199–208
Mirabeau O, Perlas E, Severini C, Audero E, Gascuel O, Possenti R, Birney E, Rosenthal N, Gross C (2007) Identification of novel peptide hormones in the human proteome by hidden Markov model screening. Genome Res 17:320–327
Porzionato A, Macchi V, Parenti A, De Caro R (2008a) Trophic factors in the carotid body. Int Rev Cell Mol Biol 269:1–58
Porzionato A, Macchi V, Parenti A, Matturri L, De Caro R (2008b) Peripheral chemoreceptors: postnatal development and cytochemical findings in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Histol Histopathol 23:351–365
Porzionato A, Rucinski M, Macchi V, Stecco C, Malendowicz LK, De Caro R (2010) Spexin expression in normal rat tissues. J Histochem Cytochem 58:825–837
Prieto-Lloret J, Caceres AI, Obeso A, Rocher A, Rigual R, Agapito MT, Bustamante R, Castañeda J, Perez-Garcia MT, Lopez-Lopez JR, Gonzalez C (2004) Ventilatory responses and carotid body function in adult rats perinatally exposed to hyperoxia. J Physiol 554:126–144
Rucinski M, Porzionato A, Ziolkowska A, Szyszka M, Macchi V, De Caro R, Malendowicz LK (2010) Expression of the spexin gene in the rat adrenal gland and evidences suggesting that spexin inhibits adrenocortical cell proliferation. Peptides 31:676–682
Sonmez K, Zaveri N, Kerman I, Burke S, Neal CR, Xie X, Watson SJ, Toll L (2009) Evolutionary sequence modeling for discovery of peptide hormones. PLoS Comput Biol 5:e1000258
Wang ZY, Bisgard GE (2005) Postnatal growth of the carotid body. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 149:181–190
Wenninger JM, Olson EB, Wang Z, Keith IM, Mitchell GS, Bisgard GE (2006) Carotid sinus nerve responses and ventilatory acclimatization to hypoxia in adult rats following 2 weeks of postnatal hyperoxia. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 150:155–164
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Anna Rambaldo for skillful technical assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
Porzionato, A. et al. (2012). Spexin Is Expressed in the Carotid Body and Is Upregulated by Postnatal Hyperoxia Exposure. In: Nurse, C., Gonzalez, C., Peers, C., Prabhakar, N. (eds) Arterial Chemoreception. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 758. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4584-1_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4584-1_29
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4583-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4584-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)