About this Research Topic

Background

The evolution of a plasma membrane was an important step in the development of cellular life. At the same time the appearance of such a structure, which protects the genetic material, created a new problem for the exchange of substances such as nutrients, xenobiotics, and metabolism products between the intra- and extracellular compartments. The insertion of transport proteins (channels, pumps, transporters) into the plasma membrane contributed to solving this problem, especially for the movement of charged substances across the plasma membrane.
Every cell is equipped with transport proteins, which represent the largest family of membrane proteins in the human organism. Therefore, transporters play a fundamental role in cellular physiology and are highly conserved in evolution. Most organs are equipped with a multitude of transporters, which are essential determinants of their function. This is especially important for the kidneys, where transporters represent the molecular correlate of most fundamental renal functions.

Transporters are frequent targets of pharmacological interventions and are able to mediate absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME) of pharmaceutical compounds and thereby major elements in drug responses. Again, transporters play a specially important role in these processes in excretory organs such as the liver and the kidneys.

For these reasons, transporters offer a hitchhike to travel across important aspects of physiology, toxicology, and pharmacology.

These aspects of transporters’ function are the focus of the TransportDays 2022 in Greifswald (Germany). The TransportDays are held annually and organized for and by scientists interested in physiology, pharmacology, and structural biology of cell membrane channels and transporters. The TransportDay was originally organized by Prof. Gerhard Burckhardt in honor of Prof. Karl J. Ullrich, one of the pioneers of renal transport physiology and former director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt. Participants of this meeting were at the beginning principally disciples of Prof. Ullrich. Nowadays, the meeting has extended to various groups actively working on transport physiology and pharmacology in and outside of Germany.

This Research Topic will provide a forum for publications resulting from the symposium. However, submission is open to all researchers working in these fields. In the same way, this Research Topic will focus on renal transporters, however, contributions on the roles of transporters in other organs/systems are also welcome.

We welcome manuscripts that cover the following sub-topics:

• Role of transporters for crosstalk between organs
• Physiological and pathophysiological regulation of transporters
• Interaction of drugs with transporters
• Consequences of mutations in the transporters for their function and interaction with drugs
• Comparative and translational models (fly, fish, mouse, etc.) for research on transporters
• New in-vitro models (for example organoids) for the study of transporters
• Omics analysis of transporters

Keywords: Transporters, Drugs, Metabolism, Regulation, Function

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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