Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Compr Physiol. 2012 Oct;2(4):2495-525. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c100051.
Analysis of tubule function with in vivo and ex vivo approaches has been instrumental in revealing renal physiology. This work allows assignment of functional significance to known gene products expressed along the nephron, primary of which are proteins involved in electrolyte transport and regulation of these transporters. Not only we have learned much about the key roles played by these transport proteins and their proper regulation in normal physiology but also the combination of contemporary molecular biology and molecular genetics with in vivo and ex vivo analysis opened a new era of discovery informative about the root causes of many renal diseases. The power of in vivo and ex vivo analysis of tubule function is that it preserves the native setting and control of the tubule and proteins within tubule cells enabling them to be investigated in a "real-life" environment with a high degree of precision. In vivo and ex vivo analysis of tubule function continues to provide a powerful experimental outlet for testing, evaluating, and understanding physiology in the context of the novel information provided by sequencing of the human genome and contemporary genetic screening. These tools will continue to be a mainstay in renal laboratories as this discovery process continues and as we continue to identify new gene products functionally compromised in renal disease.
体内和体外方法分析肾小管功能对于揭示肾脏生理学至关重要。这项工作可以将功能意义分配给沿肾单位表达的已知基因产物，其中主要是参与电解质转运的蛋白质和这些转运蛋白的调节。我们不仅了解了这些转运蛋白在正常生理中的关键作用及其正确调节，而且将当代分子生物学和分子遗传学与体内和体外分析相结合，开创了一个新的发现时代，为许多肾脏疾病的根本原因提供了信息。体内和体外分析肾小管功能的强大之处在于它保留了肾小管和肾小管细胞内蛋白质的天然环境和控制，使它们能够在高度精确的“真实生活”环境中进行研究。体内和体外分析肾小管功能继续为测试、评估和理解人类基因组测序和当代遗传筛选提供的新信息背景下的生理学提供了强大的实验出路。随着这一发现过程的继续进行，以及我们继续识别在肾脏疾病中功能受损的新基因产物，这些工具将继续成为肾脏实验室的主要支柱。
