RUI: Gill Na+/H+ Exchange in Marine Fish

小行星9419849 该项目的长期目标是了解海洋鱼类如何能够使用它们的鳃来完成许多与哺乳动物肾脏相同的任务。 鱼鳃是一个多功能器官。 类似于陆地动物的肺，鳃允许鱼呼吸氧气并排出二氧化碳。 此外，鳃执行肝脏和肾脏的功能，因为它们消除有毒的代谢废物，如氨和酸。 同样类似于肾脏，鳃通过调节动物血液中的盐的水平来帮助鱼。 人们对鳃组织内发生的实际细胞机制知之甚少。 Claiborne博士假设，一些咸水鱼可能会从周围的水中吸收盐（钠），以排出体内多余的酸。 具有这种能力的物种可能能够生活在更广泛的盐水环境中，从开放的海洋到稀释的河口。 这项建议将研究这些鳃机制在两个不同种类的海洋鱼类，杜父鱼，和蟾鱼。 他的初步研究结果表明，当外部盐含量太低时，杜父鱼可能无法分泌足够的酸。 相比之下，蟾鱼可以在很宽的盐水浓度范围内调节酸性水平。 因此，通过比较这两个物种的排酸机制，将显示鳃是否在确定鱼类可以生活的环境盐度范围中发挥作用。 此外，由于鳃内的这些细胞机制与目前在哺乳动物肾脏中研究的细胞机制非常相似，因此还可以阐明对肾脏和其他器官的生理学的新见解。 ***

9419849 Claiborne The long range goal of this project is to understand how marine fish are able to use their gills to accomplish many of the same tasks that are performed by the kidneys in mammals. The fish gill is a multi-purpose organ. Analogous to the lungs in land-dwelling animals, the gills allow the fish to breath oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide. Further, the gills perform functions of the liver and kidneys as they eliminate toxic metabolic waste products like ammonia and acid. Also analogous to the kidneys, the gills assist the fish by regulating the levels of salts within the blood of the animal. Little is known about the actual cellular mechanisms which take place within the gill tissue. Dr. Claiborne has hypothesized that some saltwater fish may take in salt (sodium) from the surrounding water to excrete excess acid from within the body. The species which have this ability may then be able to live in a wider range of salt water environments, from the open ocean, to dilute estuaries. This proposal will study these gill mechanisms in two different species of marine fish, the sculpin, and the toadfish. His preliminary findings suggest that the sculpin may not be able to excrete sufficient acid when external salt levels are too low. In contrast, the toadfish can regulate acid levels in a wide range of saltwater concentrations. Thus, by comparing the acid excretion mechanisms in these two species, it will be shown whether the gills play a role in determining the environmental salinity range in which a fish species can live. Further, since these cellular mechanisms within the gills are very similar to those currently being studied in the mammalian kidney, new insights into the physiology of the kidney and other organs may also be elucidated. ***