Author response: Evolution of the hypoxia-sensitive cells involved in amniote respiratory reflexes
Year: 2017
Type: peer-review
Abstract: The carotid bodies are small glands found in either side of our neck, near the carotid artery. When the level of oxygen in our blood drops, specialized cells in the carotid bodies signal to the brain to increase our heart rate and make us breathe more rapidly and deeply. As a result, more oxygen is delivered to our cells. Fish have similar oxygen-sensitive cells in their gills, known as neuroepithelial cells, that detect changes in the oxygen levels in the surrounding water and their blood. It has been suggested that after our vertebrate (back-boned animal) ancestors moved onto land, the neuroepithelial cells in their gills eventually evolved to form the carotid bodies. Knowing whether this is true would allow researchers to better understand how our ancestors were able to adapt to an obligate air-breathing lifestyle on land. If the carotid body did evolve from ancestral neuroepithelial cells, we would expect that they would both develop from the same kind of cells in the embryo. Carotid body cells develop from a group of cells called neural crest cells, which give rise to many tissues, including nerve cells. Hockman et al. have now investigated whether neuroepithelial cells also develop from neural crest cells. Hockman et al. labelled the neural crest cells in the embryos of zebrafish, frogs and lampreys using techniques such as injecting the cells with fluorescent dye or genetically modifying the cells to make fluorescent proteins. Unexpectedly, the neuroepithelial cells that developed in the gills of these embryos did not contain these fluorescent labels, meaning that they did not develop from the neural crest cells. The patterns of gene activity found in the developing neuroepithelial cells were also different from those in the carotid body. Further investigation revealed that neuroepithelial cells develop from the lining of the mouth and gills and may be related to a similar population of oxygen-sensitive cells found in the lungs. Overall, it appears that the carotid body did not evolve from ancestral neuroepithelial cells. However, Hockman et al. did find some cells near blood vessels in the gills of zebrafish that had developed from neural crest cells. Equivalent cells in our ancestors could therefore be the cells that evolved into carotid bodies. A first test of this theory will be to determine whether or not these cells are oxygen-sensitive.
Institutions: University of Cape Town, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Erasmus MC, University College London, National University of Ireland, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Max Planck Society, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Helmholtz Munich, King's College London
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W2986294414