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

本项目旨在开发设备和方法，以检查海洋鱼类肠道的能量使用。海洋鱼类是少数几种可以喝海水以避免脱水的动物之一。相比之下，人类如果只剩下海水作为唯一的水源，就会死于脱水。本研究活动的主要研究者多年来一直在研究海水鱼肠道中盐和水运输的生理学，这是一个使这些鱼能够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的能量来处理摄入的海水。此外，看来鱼肠道运输盐和水的代谢成本可能高于肾脏和其他动物的其他盐和水运输器官。为了确定与海水鱼肠道中盐吸收相关的实际能量成本，有必要开发新的设备。拟议的设备将允许同时测量肠道耗氧量，能量使用的可靠指标，和盐的运输，利用最近开发的荧光为基础的氧气测量。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.