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Coexpression of Galanin and Nestin in the Chemoreceptor Cells of the Human Carotid Body

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Respirology

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((NR,volume 885))

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.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Imaging and Clinical Science, University of Chieti–Pescara, Chieti, Italy

    Andrea Mazzatenta & Camillo Di Giulio

  2. Department of Drug Sciences, University of Chieti–Pescara, Chieti, Italy

    Guya D. Marconi & Amelia Cataldi

  3. Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, Padua University, Padua, Italy

    Veronica Macchi & Andrea Porzionato

  4. Institute of Nursing, Public Higher Medical Professional School, 68 Katowicka St., 45-060, Opole, Poland

    Mieczyslaw Pokorski

Authors
  1. Andrea Mazzatenta
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  2. Guya D. Marconi
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  3. Veronica Macchi
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  4. Andrea Porzionato
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  5. Amelia Cataldi
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  6. Camillo Di Giulio
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  7. Mieczyslaw Pokorski
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Andrea Mazzatenta or Mieczyslaw Pokorski .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nursing, Public Higher Medical Professional Schoo, Opole, Poland

    Mieczyslaw Pokorski

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Mazzatenta, A. et al. (2015). Coexpression of Galanin and Nestin in the Chemoreceptor Cells of the Human Carotid Body. In: Pokorski, M. (eds) Respirology. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 885. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2015_189

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