Role of ET-1 in hypoxia-induced mitosis of cultured rat carotid body chemoreceptors

The mammalian carotid body (CB) contains O2-chemoreceptors, i.e. glomus cells, which display increased mitoses and endothelin-1 (ET-1) expression during chronic hypoxia. To investigate whether endogenous ET-1 might mediate these mitogenic effects, we quantified bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) uptake by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive glomus cells in rat CB cultures using double-label immunofluorescence. In normoxia (20% O2), 2-day exposure to ET-1 …