Glomus cell

Gene

Carotid body

Cell biology

mTORC1

Neuroscience

Hypoxic ventilatory response

Biology

Endocrinology

Signal transduction

Stimulation

Biochemistry

Hypoxia (environmental)

Respiration

Homeostasis

Organic chemistry

Oxygen

Anatomy

Internal medicine

Transcription factor

Medicine

Chemistry

PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Gene isoform

eLife

Mammalian adaptation to oxygen flux occurs at many levels, from shifts in cellular metabolism to physiological adaptations facilitated by the sympathetic nervous system and carotid body (CB). Interactions between differing forms of adaptive response to hypoxia, including transcriptional responses orchestrated by the Hypoxia Inducible transcription Factors (HIFs), are complex and clearly synergistic. We show here that there is an absolute developmental requirement for HIF-2α, one of the HIF isoforms, for growth and survival of oxygen sensitive glomus cells of the carotid body. The loss of these cells renders mice incapable of ventilatory responses to hypoxia, and this has striking effects on processes as diverse as arterial pressure regulation, exercise performance, and glucose homeostasis. We show that the expansion of the glomus cells is correlated with mTORC1 activation, and is functionally inhibited by rapamycin treatment. These findings demonstrate the central role played by HIF-2α in carotid body development, growth and function.

HIF-2α is essential for carotid body development and function