About this Research Topic
Since pivotal studies by Dr. Ussing and others in early 1950s, many important mechanisms and roles of epithelial ion transport have been clarified at the molecular, cellular and system levels. This has been facilitated by technical progress in electrophysiological and optical measurements of activities of cells and molecules in real-time, gene/protein identification, and omics analyses. In epithelia, the activity of apically- and basolaterally-located ion channels/transporters are tightly coordinated to maintain cell volume, ion homeostasis inside and outside the cell, and integrity during active secretion and absorption of ions and fluid. Epithelial ion transport maintains the pH, ion concentrations and ionic strength of the intra- and extracellular environments to allow proper activity of molecules and cells, and their appropriate interactions. Thus, starting from research into the mechanism of solutes and water movement, the recent studies suggest a broader and stronger contribution of epithelial transport to the functioning of the whole physiological system.
Polarized expression of different ion channels/transporters at the apical and basolateral membrane enable the epithelial cells to drive vectorial transport of ion and fluid, and also to maintain ion homeostasis inside and outside the cells. Establishing new pharmacological manipulation of the key molecules functioning in epithelial ion transport can help us develop the therapeutics to treat diseases caused by the impairment of epithelial ion transport, including a wide variety of genetic diseases and systemic diseases such as cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to clarify how the key molecules, deficiency of which elicit abnormal cellular states and cause diseases reversibly or irreversibly, can function to maintain ion homeostasis, and the integrity during secretion and absorption, and on making the intracellular and extracellular environments optimal for proper cellular activities and appropriate interactions between cells, molecules and microorganisms. The appropriate interactions can be responsible for healthy microbiome maintenance, antimicrobial activities, and the recruitment/activation of proper immune cells to maintain body homeostasis. Furthermore, this aims to find new strategies for pharmacological manipulation of the abnormal cellular or system-level states by rescuing the functions of key molecules or by activating alternative pathways.
The themes are listed below:
1. The mechanisms underlying normal and abnormal functions of secretion and absorption in the airway, the digestive tract, the kidney, the reproductive tract, and exocrine glands.
2. Physiology and pathophysiology on how epithelial transport arranges the interactions between cells, molecules and microorganisms, which are responsible for healthy microbiome maintenance, and antimicrobial activities.
3. Physiology of chemoreception mediated by epithelial ion transport.
4. The mechanism of how intracellular states such as having liquid-liquid phase separation and autophagy-mediated bulk degradation can affect the epithelial ion transport.
5. New techniques to discover the function of epithelial ion transport.
6. Pharmacological manipulation of abnormal cellular and system-level states by targeting the key molecules functioning in epithelial ion transport.
Research Topics accept both original research and review papers.
Polarized expression of different ion channels/transporters at the apical and basolateral membrane enable the epithelial cells to drive vectorial transport of ion and fluid, and also to maintain ion homeostasis inside and outside the cells. Establishing new pharmacological manipulation of the key molecules functioning in epithelial ion transport can help us develop the therapeutics to treat diseases caused by the impairment of epithelial ion transport, including a wide variety of genetic diseases and systemic diseases such as cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to clarify how the key molecules, deficiency of which elicit abnormal cellular states and cause diseases reversibly or irreversibly, can function to maintain ion homeostasis, and the integrity during secretion and absorption, and on making the intracellular and extracellular environments optimal for proper cellular activities and appropriate interactions between cells, molecules and microorganisms. The appropriate interactions can be responsible for healthy microbiome maintenance, antimicrobial activities, and the recruitment/activation of proper immune cells to maintain body homeostasis. Furthermore, this aims to find new strategies for pharmacological manipulation of the abnormal cellular or system-level states by rescuing the functions of key molecules or by activating alternative pathways.
The themes are listed below:
1. The mechanisms underlying normal and abnormal functions of secretion and absorption in the airway, the digestive tract, the kidney, the reproductive tract, and exocrine glands.
2. Physiology and pathophysiology on how epithelial transport arranges the interactions between cells, molecules and microorganisms, which are responsible for healthy microbiome maintenance, and antimicrobial activities.
3. Physiology of chemoreception mediated by epithelial ion transport.
4. The mechanism of how intracellular states such as having liquid-liquid phase separation and autophagy-mediated bulk degradation can affect the epithelial ion transport.
5. New techniques to discover the function of epithelial ion transport.
6. Pharmacological manipulation of abnormal cellular and system-level states by targeting the key molecules functioning in epithelial ion transport.
Research Topics accept both original research and review papers.
Keywords: Epithelial ion transport, ion homeostasis, system organization, microbiome maintenance, pharmacological manipulation
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