SGER: Development of Equipement and Methodology for Simultaneous Measurements of Epithelial Transport and Oxygen Consumption

本项目旨在开发检查海鱼肠道能量利用的设备和方法。海鱼是为数不多的可以饮用海水以避免脱水的动物之一。相比之下，如果把海水作为唯一的水源，人类将死于脱水。本研究活动的首席调查员多年来一直在研究海水鱼肠道中盐分和水运输的生理学，这是一种允许这些鱼在海洋中生活的器官。这项研究工作提供了初步证据，表明海鱼的肠道需要大量能量来处理摄入的海水。此外，似乎鱼肠道运输盐分和水的代谢成本可能高于其他动物的肾脏和其他盐分和水运输器官。为了确定与海水鱼肠道盐分吸收相关的实际能量成本，开发新的设备是必要的。拟议的设备将允许通过利用最近开发的基于荧光的氧气测量来同时测量肠道耗氧量和盐分运输，肠道耗氧量是能量使用的可靠指标。首席研究员正在与一家专门开发和生产用于器官和动物功能研究的科学设备的公司密切合作。预计设计的设备将在12个月内生产和测试，之后这项新技术将提供给美国和世界其他地区的其他研究人员。

The present project seeks to develop equipment and methods to examine energy use by the intestine of marine fish. Marine fish are among the few animals that can drink seawater to avoid dehydration. Humans, by comparison, will die of dehydration if left with seawater as their only water source. The principal investigator of the present research activity has, for a number of years, been studying the physiology of the salt and water transport in the marine fish intestine, an organ which allows these fish to live in the ocean. This research effort has provided preliminary evidence suggesting that the intestine in marine fish requires high amounts of energy to process the ingested seawater. Furthermore, it appears that the metabolic cost of salt and water transport by the fish intestine might be higher than that of the kidney and other salt- and water-transporting organs in other animals. To determine the actual energetic cost associated with salt absorption in the marine fish intestine, development of novel equipment is necessary. The proposed equipment will allow for simultaneous measurements of both intestinal oxygen consumption, a reliable indicator of energy use, and salt transport, by making use of recently developed fluorescence based measurements of oxygen. The principal investigator is working in close collaboration with a company specialized in the development and production of scientific equipment for studies of organ and animal function. The expectation is that the designed equipment will be produced and tested within 12 months after which this novel technology will be made available for other researchers in the United States and the rest of the world.