The enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) is selectively expressed in aldosterone target tissues, conferring aldosterone selectivity for the mineralocorticoid receptor. A diminished activity causes salt-sensitive hypertension. The mechanism of the variable and distinct 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 gene (HSD11B2) expression in the cortical collecting duct is poorly...

Wetzel, Randall K., and Kathleen J. Sweadner. Immunocytochemical localization of Na-K-ATPase aand g-subunits in rat kidney. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 281: F531–F545, 2001.—The g-subunit of the Na-K-ATPase is a single-span membrane protein that alters the kinetic properties of the enzyme. It is expressed in the kidney, but our initial observations indicated that it is not present in all nephron...

The neuronal adhesion protein Dragon acts as a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) coreceptor that enhances BMP signaling. Given the importance of BMP signaling in nephrogenesis and its putative role in the response to injury in the adult kidney, we studied the localization and function of Dragon in the kidney. We observed that Dragon localized predominantly to the apical surfaces of tubular epith...

Collecting duct carcinoma (CDC) of the kidney is a rare and aggressive malignant tumor arising from the distal collecting tubules which has been shown to have a poor response to several kinds of systemic therapy. We present a case of metastatic CDC that responded favorably to a multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitor, sunitinib, achieving a partial response in both lung and skeletal metastases. To o...

The overall pattern of the developing kidney is set in large part by the developing ureteric bud/collecting duct system, and dysgenesis of this system accounts for a variety of clinically significant renal diseases. Understanding how the behavior of cells in the developing ureteric bud/collecting duct is controlled is therefore important to understanding the normal and abnormal kidney. Dact pro...

The aim of this study was to evaluate KCNQ1 K+ channel expression in the frog kidney of Rana esculenta. KCNQ1 K+ channel, also known as KvLQT1, is the pore forming a-subunit of the IKs K+ channel, a delayed rectifier voltage-gated K+ channel, which has an important role in water and salt transport in the kidney and gastrointestinal tract. The expression of KCNQ1 K+ channel along tubular epithel...

The distribution of vacuolar H+ATPase in rat kidney was examined by immunocytochemistry using affinity-purified antibodies against the 31-, 56-, and 70-kD subunits of the bovine kidney proton pump. Proximal convoluted tubules were labeled over apical plasma membrane invaginations, and in the initial part of the thin descending limb, apical and basolateral plasma membranes were moderately staine...

Renal micropuncture observations in the rat suggest that the entire "distal tubule" (defined by the micropuncturist as that portion of the renal tubule extending between the macula densa and its first junction with another (renal tubule) may be responsive to vasopressin. However, this portion of the renal tubule contains two segments that are morphologically dissimilar. The "early" distal tubul...

The present study was conducted on each of the three adult birds of Emu and Duck procured from the farms located in and around Gannavaram. The renal parenchyma of Emu and Duck was divided into large cortical lobules and smaller medullary lobules/cones. The renal cortex of both the birds showed a labyrinth of tubules and renal corpuscles. Small loopless cortical (reptilian type) nephrons and lar...

Recent studies have revealed that arginine vasopressin (AVP) has at least two types of receptors in the kidney: V1a receptor and V2 receptor. In this study, microlocalization of mRNA coding for V1a and V2 receptors was carried out in the rat kidney using a reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. Large signals for V1a receptor PCR product were detected in the glomerulus, initial cor...