LAUSR

Molecular oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are the primary gaseous substrate and product of oxidative phosphorylation in respiring organisms respectively. Variance in the levels of either of these gasses outside of the physiologic range presents a serious threat to cell, tissue and organism survival. Therefore, it is essential that endogenous levels are monitored and kept at appropriate levels in order to maintain a state of homeostasis. Higher organisms such as mammals have evolved mechanisms to sense O2 and CO2 both in the circulation and in individual cells and elicit appropriate corrective responses to promote adaptation to commonly encountered conditions such as hypoxia and hypercapnia. These can be acute and transient non-transcriptional responses, which typically occur at the level of whole animal physiology or more sustained transcriptional responses, which promote chronic adaptation. In this review, we will discuss the mechanisms by which mammals sense changes in O2 and CO2 and elicit adaptive responses in order to maintain homeostasis. We will also discuss crosstalk between these pathways and how they may represent targets for therapeutic intervention in a range of pathological states.