Frontiers in Marine Science (Oct 2015)
Krogh’s principle or a multiple fish model approach to phosphate balance: is there a centrally regulated intestinal-skeletal-renal axis?
Abstract
Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is a crucial ion for vertebrate life. In addition to many physiological roles it is, together with calcium, the major element forming the internal skeleton and Pi balance has been considered a secondary consequence of calciotropic endocrine factors. However, contrary to calcium which can be readily obtained from even Ca-poor environments, Pi is not available in water, and fish can only obtain it via the food. Intestinal absorption drives Pi into the blood stream, but a central part of Pi balance is renal excretion and conservation. Recently, several Pi specific regulatory factors have been brought to light, and we use fish models to investigate their role and the hypothesis of a centrally controlled intestinal-skeletal-renal Pi axis. Using tissues mounted in Ussing chambers under symmetrical and asymmetrical short-circuited conditions we measure unidirectional 33Pi fluxes and test PTHrP, but also STC and FGF23 as regulatory factors, as well as specific drugs to unveil the functional transporting mechanisms. Pi absorption is modified in starved and fed sea bass, an effect dependent on Pi availability in diet, which modifies gene expression of uptake mechanisms. Phosphate secretion across flounder primary renal cell cultures is increased by PTHrP, which reduces the expression of reabsorption mechanisms such as NaPiII and evokes an increase in GFR in cannulated fish, thus resulting in net Pi excretion. A similar effect occurs in the toadfish urinary bladder, which displays moderate Pi transport that is abolished by the drug ouabain and modified by endocrines. Finally we used the shark choroid plexus (CP) to show active CSF-to-blood transport with biochemical properties consistent with PiT Na+-dependent transporters. RT-PCR revealed the PiT1/2, but no NaPiII gene expression and we localized PiT2 in CP apical membranes while PiT1 occurred in vascular endothelial cells. Shark CP expresses both PTHrP and its receptor. Could choroidal PiTs be the sensing tool of a central Pi-sensing/regulatory pathway?
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