Research Initiation Award: Using Zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model to assess the role of insulin receptor signaling in renal epithelial transport function.

研究启动奖为历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的初级和职业生涯中期教师提供支持，他们正在建立新的研究计划或重新定向和重建现有计划。预计该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，改善所在机构的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。授予马里兰东岸大学的这一奖项将开发一种新的方法来评估脊椎动物的水和钠调节，并将增进我们对脊椎动物肾脏运输和液体平衡的基本机制的了解。该项目的目标是研究胰岛素在调节肾脏钠和水运输中的作用。排列在肾近端小管(PT)上的上皮细胞重新吸收相当一部分过滤后的钠和水，因此在调节体液渗透平衡方面起着关键作用。钠质子交换蛋白3(NHE3)在甲状旁腺中表达，占总Na+和水上皮转运的大部分。胰岛素已经被证明通过增加NHE3的活性来刺激这一部分的Na+和水上皮运输。斑马鱼(Danio Rerio)将被用作进一步阐明胰岛素与近端小管特异性氢质子交换器3(NHE3)活性增加之间联系的信号机制。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore will develop a novel methodology to assess the water and sodium regulation in vertebrates and will advance our knowledge of basic mechanism of vertebrate kidney transport and fluid balance.The goal of the project is to investigate the role of insulin in regulating sodium and water transport in the kidney. Epithelial cells that line the renal proximal tubule (PT)reabsorb a significant fraction of filtered sodium and water, and therefore, play a key role in regulating body fluid osmotic homeostasis. The sodium proton exchanger 3 (NHE3) is expressed in the PT and accounts for the majority of total Na+ and water epithelial transport. Insulin has been shown to stimulate Na+ and water epithelial transport in this segment via increased NHE3 activity. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) will be used as a model to further elucidate the signaling mechanisms that link insulin to an increase in proximal tubule specific sodium hydrogen proton exchanger 3 (NHE3) activity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.