Work

Evidence for HCO 3 − and NH 3 /NH 4 + -dependent pH regulatory mechanisms in the alkaline midgut of the sea urchin larva

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Sea urchin larvae evolved highly alkaline conditions in their digestive tracts, and the underlying acid-base regulatory mechanisms are little understood. Here we present evidence that the process of luminal alkalization is cAMP-dependent. Furthermore, our data point toward the involvement of bicarbonate and ammonia in regulating midgut fluid pH. These results identified a novel mechanism for luminal alkalization in the digestive tract of a marine animal with strong implications for other alkalizing systems in animals.

Source: American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology

DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.00222.2024

Authors: Inga Petersen, Sima Jonusaite, Femke Thoben, Marian Y. Hu

Institutions: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, University of Tulsa

Language: English

Topic: Ion Transport and Channel Regulation

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council

Awards: pH regulatorische Systeme mariner Larvenstadien: Neue Modelle für die Gesundheit des gastrointestinal Traktes und der Biomineralisation in einer sich wandelnden Umwelt, Vesicular mechanisms of carbon fixation in calcifying cells of marine animals