U.S.-Germany Cooperative Research on the Molecular Biology and Transport Physiology of Cation Exchange Proteins in Crustaceans

该奖项支持夏威夷大学的Gregory Ahearn教授和两名研究生与慕尼黑大学的Helmut Wieczorek教授合作，研究甲壳类动物胃肠道和肾脏细胞的阳离子运输。Wieczorek教授是研究昆虫肠上皮细胞离子调节机制（特别是钾分泌）的分子技术专家。他目前的研究重点是阳离子反转运蛋白在分泌过程中的生理特性。Ahearn博士的团队在应用放射性同位素示踪剂方法评估甲壳类动物中反向转运蛋白的交换动力学方面开发了互补的专业知识。美国和德国的合作小组将通过每年两三个月的研究生相互交流，将研究工作联系起来。这将是双方在分子生物学和运输生理学研究方面相互补充的专业知识的有效途径，并节省时间和其他资源，以实现他们的研究目标。这项合作工作与Ahearn博士正在进行的nsf资助的无脊椎动物阳离子交换过程的运输生理学和分子生物学研究直接相关。钠质子交换是调节细胞内pH和细胞体积的重要生理过程。虽然这种基本的离子运动在脊椎动物和无脊椎动物细胞的质膜上以相似的方式发生，但它受到非常不同的交换蛋白的影响。脊椎动物交换蛋白或“转运体”的分子结构和功能现在已经被很好地理解，但我们对无脊椎动物中类似的钠和钙转运体知之甚少。例如，在甲壳类动物中，这种转运蛋白参与了与蜕皮周期相关的食物消化、重金属隔离和钙调节过程。脊椎动物细胞中类似的蛋白质没有这些功能。夏威夷大学和慕尼黑大学之间的合作将对我们在甲壳类动物中钠质子转运蛋白的分子生物学和生理作用方面的知识做出重大贡献。例如，考虑到这些转运体在龙虾的蜕皮周期和生长速度中的重要性，人们可以想象从这一新知识到水产养殖的潜在实际应用。

This award supports Professor Gregory Ahearn and two graduate students of the University of Hawaii to collaborate with Professor Helmut Wieczorek of the University of Munich in a study of cation transport by crustacean gastrointestinal and renal cells. Professor Wieczorek is an expert in molecular techniques for investigating the mechanism of ion regulation, particularly potassium secretion, by intestinal epithelial cells in insects. His current research focuses on the physiological properties of the cation antiporter protein in the secretory process. Dr. Ahearn's group has developed complementary expertise in applying radioisotopic tracer methods to assess the exchange kinetics of the antiporter protein in crustacea. The cooperating U.S. and German groups will link their research effort through reciprocal exchanges of graduate students for two three month periods per year. This should be an effective way to transfer their complementary expertise in molecular biology and transport physiology studies, and to save time and other resources in pursuing their research goal. This collaborative work is directly related to and enhances Dr. Ahearn's ongoing NSF-funded research on the transport physiology and molecular biology of the invertebrate cation exchange process. Sodium-proton exchange is an important physiological process which regulates intracellular pH and cell volume. While this fundamental ion movement occurs in similar fashion across the plasma membrane of both vertebrate and invertebrate cells, it is effected by very different exchange proteins. The molecular structure and function of the vertebrate exchange proteins or `transporters` are now well understood, but we know very little about the analogous sodium and calcium transporters in invertebrates. In crustacea, for example, such transport proteins are involved in the processes of food digestion, heavy metal sequestration and calcium regulation associated with the molt cycle. The analogous proteins in vertebrate cells has none of these functions. The collaboration between the University of Hawaii and the University of Munich will produce a major contribution to our knowledge of the molecular biology and the physiological roles of the sodium-proton transport protein in crustacea. Considering the significance of these transporters in the molt cycle and growth rate of the lobster, for example, one can imagine potential practical applications to aquaculture from this new knowledge.