Editorial: Elevated Carbon Dioxide Sensing and Physiologic Effects

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Elevated Carbon Dioxide Sensing and Physiologic EffectsHypercapnia, an elevated level of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in blood and tissue, is similarly to hypoxemia a fundamental gas exchange disturbance and is a hallmark of various pulmonary diseases (Vadász et al., 2012).Although hypoxia and hypoxemia have been very much in the focus of biological and clinical research in the last decades, much less attention has been afforded to hypercapnia.It is well known that CO 2 is a product of cellular oxidative respiration, and is primarily eliminated in mammals by the lungs.CO 2 homeostasis is indispensable for life, whereas alterations in CO 2 concentrations are sensed by cells, initiating specific signaling events (Cummins et al., 2020).In this Research Topic contributed by an international consortium of researchers, in forms of original research manuscripts, reviews and perspectives, several novel or most recently discovered aspects of CO 2 sensing and signaling mechanisms are covered.Here, we briefly summarize some of the main findings and themes discussed in the articles and outline some potential future directions for the field.