Regulation of breathing by CO 2 requires the proton-activated receptor GPR4 in retrotrapezoid nucleus neurons

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Kumar, Natasha N., Velic, Ana, Soliz, Jorge, Shi, Yingtang, Li, Keyong, Wang, Sheng, Weaver, Janelle L., Sen, Josh, Abbott, Stephen B. G., Lazarenko, Roman M., Ludwig, Marie-Gabrielle, Perez-Reyes, Edward, Mohebbi, Nilufar, Bettoni, Carla, Gassmann, Max, Suply, Thomas, Seuwen, Klaus, Guyenet, Patrice G., Wagner, Carsten A., Bayliss, Douglas A.
• Other Authors: National Institutes of Health, Swiss National Science Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Early Career Fellowship
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2015
• Subjects: Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa0922; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.aaa0922

Receptor in the brain controls breathing Control of breathing in mammals depends primarily not on sensing oxygen, but rather on detecting concentrations of carbon dioxide in the blood. Failure of this system can cause potentially deadly sleep apnias. Taking a hint from insects, which use a heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide–binding protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) to sense carbon dioxide, Kumar et al. demonstrate that the GPCR GPR4 is essential to control breathing in mice. GPR4 senses protons generated by the formation of carbonic acid in the blood and works with a pH-sensitive potassium channel called TASK-2 in a set of brain cells that control breathing. Science , this issue p. 1255