title: Characterization of acid signaling in rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons.
abstract: Local tissue acidosis frequently occurs in airway inflammatory and ischemic conditions. The effect of physiological/pathophysiological-relevant low pH (7.0-5.5) on isolated rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons was investigated using whole cell perforated patch-clamp recordings. In voltage-clamp recordings, vagal pulmonary sensory neurons exhibited distinct pH sensitivities and different phenotypes of inward current in responding to acidic challenge. The current evoked by lowering the pH of extracellular solution to 7.0 consisted of only a transient, rapidly inactivating component with small amplitude. The amplitude of this transient current increased when the proton concentration was elevated. In addition, a slow, sustained inward current began to emerge when pH was reduced to <6.5. The current-voltage curve indicated that the transient component of acid-evoked current was carried predominantly by Na+. This transient component was dose-dependently inhibited by amiloride, a common blocker of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), whereas the sustained component was significantly attenuated by capsazepine, a selective antagonist of transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor subtype-1 (TRPV1). The two components of acid-evoked current also displayed distinct recovery kinetics from desensitization. Furthermore, in current-clamp recordings, transient extracellular acidification depolarized the membrane potential and generated action potentials in these isolated neurons. In summary, our results have demonstrated that low pH can stimulate rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons through the activation of both ASICs and TRPV1. The relative roles of these two current species depend on the range of pH and vary between neurons.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physiology, Univ. of Kentucky Medical Center, 800 Rose St., Lexington, KY 40536-0298, USA.
authors.forename: Qihai
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Lu-Yuan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D062565:Acid Sensing Ion Channels; D000143:Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000584:Amiloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007601:Jugular Veins / Q000294:innervation; D008168:Lung / Q000294:innervation*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009620:Nodose Ganglion / Q000166:cytology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000502:physiology; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D062565:Acid Sensing Ion Channels; D000143:Acids; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D015222:Sodium Channels; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels; C493922:Trpv1 protein, rat; D000584:Amiloride; C071423:capsazepine; D002211:Capsaicin