Characterization of acid signaling in rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons

Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky Submitted 8 December 2005 ; accepted in final form 25 January 2006 Local tissue acidosis frequently occurs in airway inflammatory and ischemic conditions. The effect of physiological/pathophysiological-relevant low pH (7.0–5.5) on isolated rat vagal pulmonary sensory neurons was investigated using whole cell perforated patch-clamp recordings. In voltage-clamp recordings, vagal pulmonary sensory neurons exhibited distinct pH sensitivities and different phenotypes of inward current in responding to acidic challenge. The current evoked by lowering the pH of extracellular solution to 7.0 consisted of only a transient, rapidly inactivating component with small amplitude. The amplitude of this transient current increased when the proton concentration was elevated. In addition, a slow, sustained inward current began to emerge when pH was reduced to