title: Cholinergic chemosensory cells in the trachea regulate breathing.
abstract: In the epithelium of the lower airways, a cell type of unknown function has been termed "brush cell" because of a distinctive ultrastructural feature, an apical tuft of microvilli. Morphologically similar cells in the nose have been identified as solitary chemosensory cells responding to taste stimuli and triggering trigeminal reflexes. Here we show that brush cells of the mouse trachea express the receptors (Tas2R105, Tas2R108), the downstream signaling molecules (α-gustducin, phospholipase C(β2)) of bitter taste transduction, the synthesis and packaging machinery for acetylcholine, and are addressed by vagal sensory nerve fibers carrying nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Tracheal application of an nAChR agonist caused a reduction in breathing frequency. Similarly, cycloheximide, a Tas2R108 agonist, evoked a drop in respiratory rate, being sensitive to nicotinic receptor blockade and epithelium removal. This identifies brush cells as cholinergic sensors of the chemical composition of the lower airway luminal microenvironment that are directly linked to the regulation of respiration.
authors: Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen D-35385, Germany. Gabriela.Krasteva@anatomie.med.uni-giessen.de
authors: Gabriela
authors: G
authors: Krasteva
authors: Brendan J
authors: BJ
authors: Canning
authors: Petra
authors: P
authors: Hartmann
authors: Tibor Z
authors: TZ
authors: Veres
authors: Tamara
authors: T
authors: Papadakis
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Mühlfeld
authors: Kirstin
authors: K
authors: Schliecker
authors: Yvonne N
authors: YN
authors: Tallini
authors: Armin
authors: A
authors: Braun
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Hackstein
authors: Nelli
authors: N
authors: Baal
authors: Eberhard
authors: E
authors: Weihe
authors: Burkhard
authors: B
authors: Schütz
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Kotlikoff
authors: Ines
authors: I
authors: Ibanez-Tallon
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Kummer
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