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Sci Tech
Water regulation in humans
HOPKINS MEDICAL sleuths found that the absence of a certain protein interferes with the body's ability to regulate its water levels.
Reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, it provides insight into how the kidney works. The protein aquaporin-1 has a clear role in the normal function of the kidney,'' says Landon King, lead author of the study. It is required by the kidney to concentrate urine The study showed that individuals deficient in the protein have a limited ability to concentrate urine, or, in other words to reabsorb water through their kidneys.
The finding may help to develop treatments for diabetes insipidus, an ailment that inhibits reabsorption of water causing frequent urination and emaciation. Water makes up 70 per cent of the human body, and while certain cells need to absorb water quickly, other cells are relatively impermeable to water.
About 10 years ago, Peter Agre, a Hopkins professor of biochemistry, stumbled upon an unknown protein lodged in the plasma membrane of red blood cells and kidney tubules. After expressing the protein in frogs' eggs, they discovered that the eggs exploded when immersed in water because they absorbed the liquid much faster than normal. So it was named aquaporin as it acted as a pore or water channel through which fluids flow in and out of the membrane.
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