Lopez-Barneo, Jose2023-01-252023-01-252018-07-31López-Barneo J. All for one - O2 -sensitive K+ channels that mediate carotid body activation. J Physiol. 2018 Aug;596(15):2951-2952.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/11941The hypoxic ventilatory response is a homeostatic reflex essential for the survival of mammals in environmental or pathological conditions that present with hypoxaemia (low urn:x-wiley:00223751:media:tjp12772:tjp12772-math-0001 in the blood ). Changes in blood urn:x-wiley:00223751:media:tjp12772:tjp12772-math-0002 are detected by neural crest -derived and O2-sensitive glomus cells (also named type I or chief cells ) in the carotid body (CB), the most important arterial chemoreceptor organ. In response to hypoxia , CB glomus cells release transmitters to activate afferent sensory fibres that synapse on neurons in the brainstem respiratory centre (for a recent review see López-Barneo et al. 2016). The notion that hypoxia (low urn:x-wiley:00223751:media:tjp12772:tjp12772-math-0003) causes inhibition of membrane K+ conductance in glomus cells to elicit depolarization, voltage-gated Ca2+ entry, and neurotransmitter release is widely accepted; however, the relevance of the several classes of K+ channels expressed in glomus cells for the initiation or maintenance of the hypoxic response is not well understood. In this issue of The Journal of Physiology , Wang & Kim (2018) report an elegant and detailed study suggesting differential roles of background and voltage-dependent K+ channels in hypoxic CB activation.encarotid bodyoxygen sensingpotassium channelsAnimalsCalciumCarotid BodyHypoxiaOxygenRatsreview articule29271487Restricted AccessCélulasHipoxiaSangreTronco encefálicoNeuronasMembranasMamíferosNeurotransmisores10.1113/JP2755911469-7793PMC6068221https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1113/JP275591https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6068221/pdf