vasopressin-regulated water channels
The definitions used in this glossary of terminology either have been provided by the authors of the articles, or have been extracted wholly or in part, or paraphrased from the following sources: The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, Charles B. Clayman, MD, Medical Editor, Random House, New York, 1989; Biotechnology from A to Z, 2d Edition, William Bains, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; A Dictionary of Genetics, 6th Edition, Robert C. King and William D. Stansfield, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2002; Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 29th and 30th Editions, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 2000, 2003; Genes VII, Benjamin Lewin, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2000; The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, Volumes I and II, Stacey L. Blachford, Ed., Thomson Learning, New York, New York, 2002; The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, Massachusetts, 1997; Molecular Biology of the Cell, 3rd Edition, Bruce Alberts, et al., Garland Publishing, 1994; The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged Edition, 1966; Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1991.
DEFINITION:
- vasopressin-regulated water channels
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Water flows in and out of cells throughout the body except in some places in the kidneys. Cells shrink in hypotonic environments (places where there is too little water) and swell in hypertonic environments (places where there is too much water). Ideally fluid inside the cells (intracellular fluid--ICF) should be the same tonicity (contain the same concentration of water) as fluid outside the cells (extracellular fluid--ECF). To regulate this balance, some cells "sense" the concentration of water outside of them and send out the appropriate amount of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) or arginine vasopressin (AVP) to keep the correct amount of water in the blood. The AVP initiates a series of actions which results in water channel proteins being sent to cells which need more water. Once the water channel proteins are in place, the cell absorbs the water it needs. When the correct balance between ECF and ICF has been restored, the water channel proteins are removed from the cell membrane. (Source: DP - JTRAN-3)
Used in 2 Article abstracts
Used in 2 Article abstracts