Carbonic anhydrase in the carotid body and the carotid sinus nerve.
It is well known that carbonic anhydrase plays an important role in the physiological responses of carotid-body chemoreceptors to hypercapnia. Nevertheless the precise location of the enzyme within the carotid body has been a matter of controversy for many years. Using the Hansson method we found histochemical evidence that this enzyme is localized in type I cells. Type II cells and nerve terminals did not show enzymatic activity. These results allow us to define the carotid body as a secondary receptor in the context of the "acidic hypothesis" of transduction in the carotid body.
D000818:Animals; D002256:Carbonic Anhydrases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002346:Carotid Sinus / Q000294:innervation*; D002415:Cats; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D008297:Male
D002256:Carbonic Anhydrases