Mechanisms of Low-Glucose Sensitivity in Carotid Body Glomus Cells

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—Glucose sensing is essential for the adaptive counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia. We investigated the mechanisms underlying carotid body (CB) glomus cells activation by low glucose.

RESEARCH DESIGN/METHODS AND RESULTS—Removal of extracellular glucose elicited a cell secretory response, abolished by blockade of plasma membrane Ca²⁺ channels, and a reversible increase in cytosolic Ca²⁺ concentration. These data indicated that glucopenia induces transmembrane Ca²⁺ influx and transmitter secretion. In patch-clamped glomus cells, exposure to low glucose resulted in inhibition of macroscopic outward K⁺ currents and in the generation of a depolarizing receptor potential (DRP). The DRP was abolished upon removal of extracellular Na⁺. The membrane-permeable 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol induced inward currents of similar characteristics as the current triggered by glucose deficiency. The functional and pharmacological analyses suggest that low glucose activates background cationic Na⁺-permeant channels, possibly of the transient receptor potential C subtype. Rotenone, a drug that occludes glomus cell sensitivity to hypoxia, did not abolish responsiveness to low glucose. The association of Glut2 and glucokinase, characteristic of some high glucose–sensing cells, did not seem to be needed for low glucose detection.

CONCLUSIONS—Altogether, these data support the view that the CB is a multimodal chemoreceptor with a physiological role in glucose homeostasis.