title: Coexpression of Galanin and Nestin in the Chemoreceptor Cells of the Human Carotid Body.
abstract: The carotid body is a highly specialized chemoreceptive organ of neural crest origin whose role is to detect changes in arterial oxygen content. The sensory units are the chemoreceptor cells, which are neuronal-like cells, surrounded by sustentacular or glial-like cells. It is suggested that the carotid body contains self-renewing multipotent stem cells, which are putatively represented by glial-like sustentacular cells. The mechanisms of renewal of neuronal-like cells are unclear. Recently, we have demonstrated the expression of galanin, a peptide promoting neurogenesis, in chemoreceptor cells in the human CB. Thus, in the present study we seek to determine whether galanin expression in chemoreceptor cells could be matched with that of nestin, a peptide that is a marker of multipotent neural stem cells, or rather with the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a marker for glial cells. The latter would underscore the pluasibly essential role of sustentacular cells in the self-renewal capability of chemorecetors. We found that galanin expression is matched with nestin in chemoreceptor cells of the human carotid body, but not with that of GFAP. Thus, galanin expression in chemoreceptor cells could provide a signal for neurogenesis and chemoreceptor cell differentiation in the carotid body.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy. amazzatenta@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzatenta
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Guya D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Marconi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Padua University, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Macchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Padua University, Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porzionato
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Sciences, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cataldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: Camillo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Giulio
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nursing, Public Higher Medical Professional School, 68 Katowicka St., 45-060, Opole, Poland. m_pokorski@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mieczyslaw
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pokorski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002344:Carotid Body / Q000737:chemistry*; D019004:Galanin / Q000032:analysis*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D064231:Nestin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D064231:Nestin; D019004:Galanin
keywords: Carotid body; Chemoreceptor cells; Galanin; Hypoxia; Nestin; Neurogenesis