IS HYDROGEN SULPHIDE AN OXYGEN SENSOR?
Kathryn Phillips kathryn{at}biologists.com’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–> Hypoxia is a potential killer. Prolonged exposure over decades can lead to hypertension and cardiac damage. While peripheral blood vessels tend to dilate during hypoxia, pulmonary blood vessels usually contract to minimise the hypoxic exposure. However, even though the physiology of the mammalian pulmonary response is relatively well characterised, the mechanism was unknown and had intrigued scientists for years. So when Ken Olson realised that hydrogen sulphide could turn out to be the key player, it set him off on the most exciting scientific odyssey of his career (p. 4011). Olson explains that he became interested in the effects of hydrogen sulphide on smooth muscle when he heard that the gas triggered relaxation in the rat aorta. Intrigued, he suggested that Ryan Dombkowski characterise the effects of hydrogen sulphide on blood vessels from various creatures, but he only spotted the potential link between hydrogen
