The rise and fall of novel renal magnesium transporters

摘要

Body Mg~(2+) balance is finely regulated in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT), where a tight interplay among transcellular reabsorption, mitochondrial exchange, and basolat-eral extrusion takes place. In the last decades, several research groups have aimed to identify the molecular players in these processes. A multitude of proteins have been proposed to function as Mg~(2+) transporter in eukaryotes based on phylogenetic analysis, differential gene expression, and overexpression studies. However, functional evidence for many of these proteins is lacking.