Scientists from the University of Washington have discovered that protein AKAP 220 is responsible for controlling the homeostasis in kidneys.
Homeostasis is the process used by the kidneys to regulate the energy and liquids, or in simple words, the mechanism used by the kidneys to controls your urine.
These proteins act as a scaffolding for the kidney's cells. In the image above, you can see these proteins in green color. The scientists used actin protein to light them up and make them visible. At the same time, you can see in blue the DNA inside of each cell.
The image shows two groups of mice kidney cells with a spherical shape, but you look at only one cross-section of the colonies.
The scientists hope that this discovery can help them get more information to develop new treatments related to renal disorders. They aim to nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, a very peculiar genetic disease that makes people thirsty all the time and forces them to urinate too frequently.
credit Janani GopalanReferences
- Whiting, J. L., Ogier, L., Forbush, K. A., Bucko, P., Gopalan, J., Seternes, O. M., ... & Scott, J. D. (2016) AKAP220 manages apical actin networks that coordinate aquaporin-2 location and renal water reabsorption Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 201607745