Expression profile of mouse carotid body and adrenal medulla [Affymetrix]. Mus musculus

The carotid body is a chemoreceptor that senses decreases in blood oxygen to increase breathing in hypoxia. To look for candidate oxygen sensors in the carotid body, we compared the gene expression of the carotid body to the adrenal medulla, a similar tissue that does not have oxygen sensitivity in adults. Overall design: For each sample, we pooled 18 carotid bodies or 10 adrenal medullas from 10 adult mice. Group numbers designate the same cohort of animals.