Hierarchy of cellular regulation in the kidney
Morel, F.
Bulletin et Memoires de l'Academie Royale de Medecine de Belgique 151(2): 221-228
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0377-8231 PMID: 9004926 Document Number: 462446
Among the numerous "signals" which may alter the functional state of renal epithelial cells, it appears convenient to distinguish two categories: under physiological conditions, on the one hand, "hormones" control the rate of specific transport across their respective kidney target cells. In order to under-stand how such cellular effects of hormones may contribute to maintain body fluid homeostasis, it is necessary to determine where and how each of them modifies the tubular fluid composition along the successive portions of the whole nephron; under pathological conditions or during kidney ontogenesis, on the other hand, a variety of "factors" present in the close environment induce, in kidney cells, functional programmes which favor either survival, growth, or division.