Urea Transport in the Elasmobranch Kidney

人体肾脏的功能是清除体内的废物， 还可以调节血液中的盐和水成分， 体液 尿素是蛋白质代谢的分解产物 并且通常被认为是由人排泄的废物， 肾 事实确实如此，但尿素也起着重要的作用。 在正常肾功能中的重要作用。 尿素用于 肾脏以复杂的方式增加 尿液，使得仅初始尿液的一小部分 在肾脏中形成的蛋白质实际上被排出体外。 的确，不正常 肾功能反映在尿素量的变化上 被排出体外，这就是尿毒症 关于尿素的细胞功能障碍的机制是 无论是在人体还是实验室都很难研究 哺乳动物 莱西博士将研究鲨鱼和滑冰（板鳃类） 肾，因为以下原因：1）令人惊讶的是， 溜冰鞋肾在结构上与 这是莱西博士在1985年发现的。 2)这些动物 他们的血液和组织中有极高浓度的尿素， 但肾脏并不排出很多。3）溜冰鞋是一种 比实验室大鼠更适合PI的替代品 实验动物 莱西博士的研究旨在 了解在正常情况下， physiology. PI的数据将适用于人肾脏 功能与疾病

The human kidney functions to rid the body of waste products, but also to regulate the salt and water composition of the blood and body fluids. Urea is a breakdown product of protein metabolism and generally perceived to be a waste product excreted by the kidney. This is indeed the case, but urea also plays an important role in normal kidney function. Urea is used in a complex manner by the kidney to augment concentration of the urine, such that only a small fraction of the initial urine formed in the kidney is actually excreted. Indeed, abnormal kidney function is reflected in changes in the amount of urea that is excreted - a condition called uremia. The mechanisms of cellular dysfunction in regards to urea are extremely difficult to study in human as well as laboratory mammals. Dr. Lacy will study shark and skate (elasmobranchs) kidney because of the following reasons: 1) Surprisingly, the skate kidney is remarkably similar in structure to that of humans, a finding Dr. Lacy made in 1985. 2) These animals have extremely high concentrations of urea in their blood and tissues, but the kidney does not excrete very much of it. 3) Skates are a more suitable alternative than laboratory rats for the PI's experimental animal. Dr. Lacy's research is directed to understanding how the skate kidney handles urea in its normal physiology. The PI's data will be applicable to human kidney function and disease.