Main description:

This book discusses unique ion channels and transporters that are located within epithelial tissues of various organs including the kidney, intestine, pancreas and respiratory tract. As the authors show, these channels and transporters play crucial roles in transepithelial ion and fluid transport across epithelia and their contribution to maintaining homeostasis. Readers will be introduced to the fundamentals of ion transport in terms of function, modelling, regulation, structure and pharmacology. This is the first of three volumes highlighting the importance of epithelial ion channels and transporters in basic physiology and pathophysiology of human diseases.
This volume focuses on basic fundamentals of epithelial transport physiology. There is a range of chapters dedicated to specific aspects of epithelial ion transport and cell function. Accordingly, the authors discuss techniques used to determine epithelial function, principles of epithelia transport, polarization of epithelial cells, mathematical modelling of epithelial ion transport, protein folding of ion channels, degradation epithelial ion channels, fundamentals of epithelial sodium, potassium and chloride transport, fundamentals of bicarbonate secretion, volume regulation, and microRNA regulation of epithelial channels and transporters. Given its scope, Volume 1 offers a valuable resource for physiology students, scientists and clinicians alike.

Contents:

1. Techniques in Epithelial Transport.- 2. Understanding Transepithelial Current Measurements.- 3. Mathematical Modeling of Epithelial Ion Transport.- 4. Rationale of Epithelia Transport.- 5. Establishment of Epithelial Polarity.- 6. Molecular Mechanisms of Apical and Basolateral Sorting in Polarized Epithelial Cells.- 7. Membrane Protein Folding and Structure.- 8. Epithelial Ion Channel Folding and ER Associated Degradation (ERAD).- 9. Fundamentals of Epithelial Cl- Transport.- 10. Fundamentals of Epithelial Na+ Absorption.- 11. Physiologic Influences of Transepithelial K+ Secretion.- 12. Volume Regulation in Epithelia.- 13. Fundamentals of Bicarbonate Secretion in Epithelia.- 14. Sexual Dimorphism of Epithelial Ion Channels.- 15. Non-coding RNA-Dependent Regulation of Channels/Transporters.