Transport Characteristics of Renal Tubules of the Avian Kidney

本提案描述了试图阐明鸟类肾脏中转运功能（即从尿液到血液的再吸收）细节的实验。这类脊椎动物的细节直到最近才为人所知。鸟肾在形态上类似于爬行动物和哺乳动物肾脏的混合体。这使得鸟肾成为研究两种肾的适应性特征的一个有趣的模型。此外，鸟类肾脏似乎具有某些运输特征，这可能是脊椎动物中独一无二的，因此可能为细胞功能多样性提供新的见解。这项工作将特别使用微穿刺和电生理技术来研究液体和电解质在浅表“爬行类”肾单位中的运输。此外，还将研究激素对运输活动的调节。

This proposal describes experiments that will attempt to elucidate details of the transport functions (i.e. reabsorption from urine to blood) in the avian kidney. Such details for this vertebrate group have been lacking until recently. The bird kidney appears morphologically like a hybrid of kidneys found in reptiles and in mammals. This makes the bird kidney an interesting model for study of the adaptative features of the two kidney types. In addition, the avian kidney appears to possess some transport features that may be unique among vertebrates, and may therefore provide new insight into cellular diversity of function. This work will specifically use micropuncture and electrophysiological techniques to study fluid and electrolyte transport in superficial, "reptilian-type" nephrons. In addition, hormonal regulation of transport activity will be studied.