Transport and metabolic functions in cultured renal tubule cells

Abstract

Cultured renal tubule epithelia are widely recognized as a most effective tool by which to study individual factors involved in the regulation of growth and function in polarized cells. The principal advantage of this tool lies in its availability, that is, large homogeneous cell populations and direct access to their monolayers, within a rigorously controlled environment for long-term monitoring of metabolic and biophysical events. This article's1focus is the review of certain current principal lines of study, to which renal epithelial cultures have contributed in broadening our understanding of corresponding in vivo processes. These include the control of cell growth, the regulation of transepithelial solute transport, the induction of differentiated function, the control of metabolic pathways, and the expression of epithelial sidedness of these functions