Postnatal expression of transport proteins involved in acid-base transport in mouse kidney

The kidney plays a major role in maintaining and controlling systemic acid-base homeostasis by reabsorbing bicarbonate and secreting protons and acid-equivalents, respectively. During postnatal kidney development and adaptation to changing diets, plasma bicarbonate levels are increasing, the capacity for urinary acidification maturates, and the final morphology and distribution of intercalated cells is achieved. In adult kidney, at least two types of intercalated cells (IC) are found along the collecting duct characterised either by the expression of AE1 (type A IC) or pendrin (non-type A IC) where non-type A IC are found only in the convoluted distal tubule, connecting tubule and cortical collecting duct. Here we investigated in mouse kidney the relative mRNA abundance, protein expression levels and distribution of several proteins involved in renal acid-base transport, namely, the Na+/HCO3 − cotransporter NBC1 (SLC4A4), the Na+/H+-exchanger NHE3 (SLC9A3), two subunits of the vacuolar H+-ATPase [ATP6V0A4 (a4), ATP6V1B1 (B1)], the Cl−/HCO3 − exchangers AE1 (SLC4A1) and pendrin (SLC26A4). Relative mRNA abundance of all transport proteins was lowest at day3 after birth and increased thereafter in parallel with protein levels. The numbers of type A and non-type A IC in the cortical collecting duct (CCD) increased from day3 to days18 and 24, whereas the number of IC in the CCD with apical staining for the vacuolar H+-ATPase subunits a4 and B1 decreased from day3 to days18 and 24, respectively. In addition, cells with characteristics of non-type A IC (pendrin expression, basolateral expression of vacuolar H+-ATPase subunits) were found in the inner and outer medulla 3days after birth but were absent from the medulla of 24-day-old mice. Taken together, these results demonstrate massive changes in mRNA and protein expression levels of several acid-base transporters during postnatal kidney maturation and also show changes in intercalated cell phenotype in the medulla during these processe

Der Ausbau der Hochschulen muss zügig kommen

Die Bedeutung des Humankapitals für das künftige Wirtschaftswachstum ist allgemein anerkannt. Gleichzeitig stoßen steigende Studienanfängerzahlen auf knappe Bildungsbudgets in den Bundesländern. Wie wird sich die Zahl der Studienanfänger bis 2020 entwickeln? Wird es eine entsprechende Nachfrage nach Hochschulabsolventen geben? Welcher Kapazitätsaufbau ist an den Hochschulen erforderlich und was wird er kosten? --

Arbuscular mycorrhizas in phosphate-polluted soil: interrelations between root colonization and nitrogen

To investigate whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) – abundant in a phosphate-polluted but nitrogen-poor field site – improve plant N nutrition, we carried out a two-factorial experiment, including N fertilization and fungicide treatment. Percentage of root length colonized (% RLC) by AMF and tissue element concentrations were determined for four resident plant species. Furthermore, soil nutrient levels and N effects on aboveground biomass of individual species were measured. Nitrogen fertilization lowered % RLC by AMF of Artemisia vulgaris L., Picris hieracioides L. and Poa compressa L., but not of Bromus japonicus Thunb. This – together with positive N addition effects on N status, N:P-ratio and aboveground biomass of most species – suggested that plants are mycorrhizal because of N deficiency. Fungicide treatment, which reduced % RLC in all species, resulted in lower N concentrations in A. vulgaris and P. hieracioides, a higher N concentration in P. compressa, and did not consistently affect N status of B. japonicus. Evidently, AMF had an influence on the N nutrition of plants in this P-rich soil; however – potentially due to differences in their mycorrhizal responsiveness – not all species seemed to benefit froma mycorrhiza-mediated N uptake and accordingly, N distribution

Lattice investigation of the tetraquark candidates a0(980) and kappa

It is a long discussed issue whether light scalar mesons have sizeable four-quark components. We present an exploratory study of this question using Nf = 2+1+1 twisted mass lattice QCD. A mixed action approach ignoring disconnected contributions is used to calculate correlatormatrices consisting of mesonic molecule, diquark-antidiquark and two-meson interpolating operators with quantum numbers of the scalar mesons a0(980) (1(0++)) and k (1/2(0+)). The correlation matrices are analyzed by solving the generalized eigenvalue problem. The theoretically expected free two-particle scattering states are identified, while no additional low lying states are observed. We do not observe indications for bound four-quark states in the channels investigated

Comparison of different lattice definitions of the topological charge

We present a comparison of different definitions of the topological charge on the lattice, using a small-volume ensemble with 2 flavours of dynamical twisted mass fermions. The investigated definitions are: index of the overlap Dirac operator, spectral projectors, spectral flow of the Hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator and field theoretic with different kinds of smoothing of gauge fields (HYP and APE smearings, gradient flow, cooling). We also show some results on the topological susceptibility.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, presented at the 32nd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2014), 23-28 June 2014, Columbia University, New York, NY, US

Regulated acid-base transport in the collecting duct

The renal collecting system serves the fine-tuning of renal acid-base secretion. Acid-secretory type-A intercalated cells secrete protons via a luminally expressed V-type H+-ATPase and generate new bicarbonate released by basolateral chloride/bicarbonate exchangers including the AE1 anion exchanger. Efficient proton secretion depends both on the presence of titratable acids (mainly phosphate) and the concomitant secretion of ammonia being titrated to ammonium. Collecting duct ammonium excretion requires the Rhesus protein RhCG as indicated by recent KO studies. Urinary acid secretion by type-A intercalated cells is strongly regulated by various factors among them acid-base status, angiotensin II and aldosterone, and the Calcium-sensing receptor. Moreover, urinary acidification by H+-ATPases is modulated indirectly by the activity of the epithelial sodium channel ENaC. Bicarbonate secretion is achieved by non-type-A intercalated cells characterized by the luminal expression of the chloride/bicarbonate exchanger pendrin. Pendrin activity is driven by H+-ATPases and may serve both bicarbonate excretion and chloride reabsorption. The activity and expression of pendrin is regulated by different factors including acid-base status, chloride delivery, and angiotensin II and may play a role in NaCl retention and blood pressure regulation. Finally, the relative abundance of type-A and non-type-A intercalated cells may be tightly regulated. Dysregulation of intercalated cell function or abundance causes various syndromes of distal renal tubular acidosis underlining the importance of these processes for acid-base homeostasi

Scalar transport from a point source in flows over wavy walls

Simultaneous measurements of the velocity and concentration field in fully developed turbulent flows over a wavy wall are described. The concentration field originates from a low-momentum plume of a passive tracer. PLIF and digital particle image velocimetry are used to make spatially resolved measurements of the structure of the scalar distribution and the velocity. The measurements are performed at three different Reynolds numbers of Re b = 5,600, Re b = 11,200 and Re b = 22,400, respectively, based on the bulk velocity u b and the total channel height 2h. The velocity field and the scalar field are investigated in a water channel with an aspect ratio of 12:1, where the bottom wall of the test section consists of a train of sinusoidal waves. The wavy wall is characterized by the amplitude to wavelength ratio α = 0.05 and the ratio β between the wave amplitude and the half channel height where β = 0.1. The scalar is released from a point source at the wave crest. For the concentration measurements, Rhodamine B is used as tracer dye. At low to moderate Reynolds number, the flow field is characterized through a recirculation zone which develops after the wave crest. The recirculation zone induces high intensities of the fluctuations of the streamwise velocity and wall-normal velocity. Furthermore, large-scale structures are apparent in the flow field. In previous investigations it has been shown that these large-scale structures meander laterally in flows over wavy bottom walls. The investigations show a strong effect of the wavy bottom wall on the scalar mixing. In the vicinity of the source, the scalar is transported by packets of fluid with a high scalar concentration. As they move downstream, these packets disintegrate into filament-like structures which are subject to strong gradients between the filaments and the surrounding fluid. The lateral scale of the turbulent plume is smaller than the lateral scale of the large-scale structures in the flow field and the plume dispersion is dominated by the structures in the flow field. Due to the lateral meandering of the large-scale structures of the flow field, also the scalar plume meanders laterally. Compared to turbulent plumes in plane channel flows, the wavy bottom wall enhances the mixing effect of the turbulent flow and the spreading rate of the scalar plume is increase