title: Strong expression of interleukin-1 receptor type I in the rat carotid body.
abstract: One of the unsolved key questions in neuroimmunomodulation is how peripheral immune signals are transmitted to the brain. It has been reported that the vagus might play a role in this regard. The underlying mechanism for this immune system-to-brain communication route is related to the binding of cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1beta originating from activated immune cells, to their receptors in glomus cells of the vagal paraganglia. The existence of IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1RI) in vagal paraganglia has been proved. On the basis of these studies, a hypothesis is raised that the carotid body, as the largest paraganglion, might play a similar role to that of its abdominal partner. In this study we examined the distribution of IL-1RI in the carotid body by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting techniques. The IHC results showed that almost all glomus cells in the carotid body displayed strong IL-1RI immunoreactivity. The IL-1RI-immunoreactive products were localized in the cytoplasm, nucleus, and cell membrane of the glomus cells. The Western blotting results also confirmed the existence of IL-1RI in both membranous and cytoplasmic elements of the carotid body. These results imply that the carotid body not only serves as a chemoreceptor for modulation of cardiorespiratory performance, as traditionally recognized, but also acts as a cytokine chemorereceptor for sensing immune signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimmunomodulation, Institute of Neurosciences, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bai-Ren
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiao-Li
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yu-Qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Xi-Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Gong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ju
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017472:Receptors, Interleukin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017472:Receptors, Interleukin-1