U.S.-Japan Cooperative Science: Endrocrinological and Physiological Studies of Water Absorption Behavior

9815804Hillyard该奖项支持拉斯维加斯内华达大学的Stanley Hillard教授和日本东京Teiyko大学医学院的Takatoshi Nagai教授之间为期三年的合作研究项目。研究人员将对蟾蜍的吸水行为进行内分泌学和生理学研究。与其他种类的脊椎动物不同，两栖动物通过渗透流经皮肤而不是口服饮水来获取水分。已有研究表明，蟾皮的化学感官功能类似于口水脊椎动物的舌头，这一功能使动物能够检测和避免对体液有高渗透的溶液。这项研究的主要目标是阐明离子通道在两栖动物皮肤上皮细胞感觉功能中的作用，以及这种作用如何受到一种刺激皮肤饮酒行为的激素的影响。选定的蟾蜍属蟾蜍将通过三级方法进行研究，该方法将行为观察、上皮细胞功能和感觉神经元活动联系起来。该项目汇集了两个具有互补专业知识和研究能力的实验室的努力。美国的研究人员在环境生理学和行为学领域有专长，日本人在细胞生理学和显微镜方面有专长。这项研究通过研究生的参与促进了国际人力资源的发展。通过思想和技术的交流，这个项目将扩大我们的基础知识基础，促进国际了解和合作。*

9815804HillyardThis award supports a three year collaborative research project between Professor Stanley Hillyard of the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and Professor Takatoshi Nagai of the Teiyko University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. The researchers will be undertaking a study of endrocrinological and physiological studies of water absorption behavior in toads. Unlike other classes of vertebrates, amphibians obtain water by osmotic flow across their skin rather than by oral drinking. It has been demostrated that the toad skin serves a chemosensory function that is analogous to the tongue of vertebrates that drink orally and that this function allows animals to detect and avoid solutions that are hyperosmotic to their body fluids. The primary goal of the research is to clarify the role of ion channels in the sensory function of epithelial cells in the amphibian skin and how this role is influenced by a hormone that is known to stimulate cutaneous drinking behavior. Selected toads of the genus Bufo will be studied with a three-tiered approach that will correlate behavioral observations, epithelial cell function and the activity of sensory neurons.This project brings together the efforts of two laboratories that have complementary expertise and research capabilities. The U.S. researchers' expertise is in the area of environmental physiology and behavior and the Japanese have expertise in cell physiology and microscopy. This research advances international human resources through the participation of graduate students. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation.***