Maintenance of potassium balance in the whole animal is essential to sustain life. A small change in the body's potassium concentration can have dramatic adverse effects. Both low and high potassium concentrations can result in potentially fatal muscle paralysis and heart malfunction. The kidney is the principal organ in mammals that regulates whole body potassium balance. When potassium intake in the diet is normal, the rate of potassium excreted in the urine is small compared to the amount of potassium filtered, indicating a large absorptive capacity of the kidney for potassium. This absorptive capacity is believed to be mediated by proteins in the kidney that pump potassium from the urine back into the body fluid. These proteins belong to the hydrogen-potassium ATPase (H, K-ATPase) family of enzymes. Despite the growing body of work regarding the molecular and cellular aspects of these enzymes, the kidney H,K-ATPases remain incompletely described.
The objective of this research is to carry out a detailed molecular genetic analysis of a specific H,K-ATPase in the kidney implicated as the enzyme responsible for potassium conservation under conditions of potassium deprivation. This work will allow for a better understanding of how the kidney regulates whole body potassium balance. Information obtained from thee studies can potentially be applied to any gene that responds to changes in the body's potassium concentration. Undergraduate students will be introduced to basic biological research by working on all aspects of this project.
