TWIK-related acid-sensitive K⁺ (TASK) homomeric channels, TASK1 and TASK3, are present in PC12 cells. The channels do not heteromerize due plausibly to a lack of p11 protein. Single-channel recording reveals that most of the rat carotid body (CB) glomus cells express heteromeric TASK1-TASK3 channels, but the presence of p11 in glomus cells has not yet been verified. TASK1, but not TASK3, binds to p11, which has a retention signal for the endoplasmic reticulum. We hypothesized that p11 could facilitate heteromeric TASK1-TASK3 formation in glomus cells. We investigated this hypothesis in isolated immunocytochemically identified rat CB glomus cells. The findings were that glomus cells expressed p11-like immunoreactive (IR) material, and TASK1- and TASK3-like IR material mainly coincided in the cytoplasm. The proximity ligation assay showed that TASK1 and TASK3 heteromerized. In separate experiments, supporting evidence for the major role of p11 for channel heteromerization was provided in PC12 cells stimulated by nerve growth factor. p11 production took place there via multiple signaling pathways comprising mitogen-activated protein kinase and phospholipase C, and heteromeric TASK1-TASK3 channels were formed. We conclude that p11 is expressed and TASK1 and TASK3 heteromerize in rat CB glomus cells.

TWIK相关酸敏感K ⁺(TASK) 同源通道，TASK1 和 TASK3，存在于 PC12 细胞中。由于缺乏 p11 蛋白，通道不会异源化。单通道记录显示，大多数大鼠颈动脉体 (CB) 血管球细胞表达异聚 TASK1-TASK3 通道，但尚未证实 p11 在血管球细胞中的存在。TASK1 与 p11 结合，但不与 TASK3 结合，p11 具有内质网保留信号。我们假设 p11 可以促进球细胞中异聚 TASK1-TASK3 的形成。我们在分离的免疫细胞化学鉴定的大鼠 CB 球细胞中研究了这一假设。研究结果是球细胞表达 p11 样免疫反应 (IR) 物质，并且 TASK1 和 TASK3 样 IR 物质主要在细胞质中重合。邻近连接试验显示 TASK1 和 TASK3 异聚。在单独的实验中，在神经生长因子刺激的 PC12 细胞中提供了 p11 在通道异聚化中的主要作用的支持证据。p11 的产生通过包括丝裂原活化蛋白激酶和磷脂酶 C 在内的多种信号通路在那里发生，并形成了异聚体 TASK1-TASK3 通道。我们得出结论，p11 在大鼠 CB 球细胞中表达并且 TASK1 和 TASK3 异源化。