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Abstract
All animals use a sophisticated array of receptor proteins to sense their external and internal environments. Major advances have been made in recent years in understanding the molecular and genetic bases for sensory transduction in diverse modalities, indicating that both metabotropic and ionotropic pathways are important in sensory functions. Here, I review the historical background and recent advances in understanding the roles of a relatively newly discovered family of receptors, the degenerin/epithelial sodium channels (DEG/ENaC). These animal-specific cation channels show a remarkable sequence and functional diversity in different species and seem to exert their functions in diverse sensory modalities. Functions for DEG/ENaC channels have been implicated in mechanosensation as well as chemosensory transduction pathways. In spite of overall sequence diversity, all family members share a unique protein topology that includes just two transmembrane domains and an unusually large and highly structured extracellular domain, that seem to be essential for both their mechanical and chemical sensory functions. This review will discuss many of the recent discoveries and controversies associated with sensory function of DEG/ENaC channels in both vertebrate and invertebrate model systems, covering the role of family members in taste, mechanosensation, and pain.
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NH4+ secretion in the avian colon. An actively regulated barrier to ammonium permeation of the colon mucosa. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2009; 153:258-65. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2007] [Revised: 02/13/2009] [Accepted: 02/15/2009] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Laverty G, Skadhauge E. Adaptive strategies for post-renal handling of urine in birds. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2008; 149:246-54. [PMID: 18276178 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2008.01.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2007] [Revised: 01/15/2008] [Accepted: 01/15/2008] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Birds are a diverse vertebrate class in terms of diet and habitat, but they share several common physiological features, including the use of uric acid as the major nitrogenous waste product and the lack of a urinary bladder. Instead, ureteral urine refluxes from the urodeum into the more proximal coprodeum and portions of the hindgut (colon or rectum and ceca). This presents a potential problem in that hyperosmotic ureteral urine in contact with the permeable epithelia of these tissues would counteract renal osmotic work. This review describes and provides examples of different strategies used by avian species to balance renal and post-renal changes in urine composition. The strategies described include: 1. a "reptilian" mode, with moderate renal concentrating ability, but high rates of post-renal salt and water resorption; 2. the "mammalian" strategy, in which the coprodeum effectively functions like a mammalian urinary bladder, preserving the osmotic concentrating work of the kidney; 3. an interaction strategy, in which post-renal transport processes are hormonally regulated in order to optimize renal function under varying conditions of salt or water stress; 4. the salt gland strategy seen in marine or estuarine birds with functional salt glands, in which post-renal transport mechanisms are used to conserve urinary water and to recycle excess NaCl to the nasal salt glands. Finally, we also describe some features of an as-yet unstudied group of birds, the birds of prey. At least some species in this group are relatively good renal concentrators, and would be predicted to have post-renal mechanisms to preserve this work. This new synthesis illustrates the marked diversity of adaptive mechanisms used by avian species to maintain osmotic homeostasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gary Laverty
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
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Berk A, Fronius M, Clauss W, Schnizler M. Prostaglandin E2 induces upregulation of Na+ transport across Xenopus lung epithelium. J Comp Physiol B 2003; 174:83-9. [PMID: 14586636 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-003-0391-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/03/2003] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The apical mucus on pulmonary epithelia is not only critical for physiological functions such as gas exchange or inflammatory processes, but also contains surfactants and multiple molecules that mediate cellular responses. A tight control of transepithelial ion transport maintains viscosity of this layer and, e.g., the amiloride-sensitive sodium channels (ENaCs) in lung epithelia of vertebrates are the most important regulatory sites for transcellular sodium uptake. Dysfunction of this sodium transport results in reduced liquid absorption and causes massive problems with gas exchange. We used dissected lungs of Xenopus laevis in Ussing chambers to investigate the influence of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on the regulation of short-circuit current (ISC) and amiloride-sensitive sodium absorption (Iami). Apical application of PGE2 (1 microM) increased ISC by 38% and Iami by approximately 60%. In contrast, a different prostaglandin, PGI2, neither affected ISC nor Iami. Forskolin increased current to a similar magnitude and preincubation of the lung with an RP-isomer of cyclic AMP, an inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA), abolished the effects of both PGE2 and forskolin. Transepithelial Na+ uptake was also upregulated by the prostaglandin receptor agonists misoprostol and sulprostone. The Iami in Xenopus oocytes that heterologously expressed ENaCs was not affected by PGE2.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Berk
- Institut für Tierphysiologie, Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen, Wartweg 95, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
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5
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Abstract
The adrenal cortex elaborates two major groups of steroids that have been arbitrarily classified as glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, despite the fact that carbohydrate metabolism is intimately linked to mineral balance in mammals. In fact, glucocorticoids assured both of these functions in all living cells, animal and photosynthetic, prior to the appearance of aldosterone in teleosts at the dawn of terrestrial colonization. The evolutionary drive for a hormone specifically designed for hydromineral regulation led to zonation for the conversion of 18-hydroxycorticosterone into aldosterone through the catalytic action of a synthase in the secluded compartment of the adrenal zona glomerulosa. Corticoid hormones exert their physiological action by binding to receptors that belong to a transcription factor superfamily, which also includes some of the proteins regulating steroid synthesis. Steroids stimulate sodium absorption by the activation and/or de novo synthesis of the ion-gated, amiloride-sensitive sodium channel in the apical membrane and that of the Na+/K+-ATPase in the basolateral membrane. Receptors, channels, and pumps apparently are linked to the cytoskeleton and are further regulated variously by methylation, phosphorylation, ubiquination, and glycosylation, suggesting a complex system of control at multiple checkpoints. Mutations in genes for many of these different proteins have been described and are known to cause clinical disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- M K Agarwal
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France.
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Weber W. Ion currents of Xenopus laevis oocytes: state of the art. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 1999; 1421:213-33. [PMID: 10518693 DOI: 10.1016/s0005-2736(99)00135-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- W Weber
- Laboratory of Physiology, K.U. Leuven, Campus Gasthuisberg, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium.
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Bindslev N, Hirayama BA, Wright EM. Na/D-glucose cotransport and SGLT1 expression in hen colon correlates with dietary Na+. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY. PART A, PHYSIOLOGY 1997; 118:219-27. [PMID: 9366048 DOI: 10.1016/s0300-9629(97)00071-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
We have tested whether separately varying the content of either Na or Cl in diets causes earlier observed increase in Na-coupled sugar and amino acid transport induced by high NaCl diets in hen colon. A comparison was also made between the dependence of the Na-coupled transport on a pure wheat/barley/soya diet against a diet with supplements of essential amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and trace elements, as a test for possible elimination of the cotransporters due to a deficient diet. Na/nutrient-coupled transport was measured as changes in short circuit current. The level of expressed Na/glucose cotransporters, SGLT1, due to dietary alterations was followed by quantitative Western blot and immunodetection of SGLT1 in colon, and the dietary effects on plasma aldosterone were assessed as well. An observed switch in transport from amiloride-sensitive electrodiffusive Na transport to phlorizin-sensitive Na/D-glucose cotransport and Na/amino acid-coupled transport is caused solely by increasing Na+ in the diet. Thus, neither dietary Cl- nor the dietary supplements altered the expression of Na(+)-coupled nutrient transport processes. Corroborating these findings, only Na+ in the diet increased the expression of SGLT1 in colon epithelium and suppressed aldosterone level in plasma.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Bindslev
- Department of Medical Physiology, Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Liebold KM, Reifarth FW, Clauss W, Weber WM. cAMP-activation of amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels from guinea-pig colon expressed inXenopus oocytes. Pflugers Arch 1996. [DOI: 10.1007/bf02332177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Liebold KM, Reifarth FW, Clauss W, Weber W. cAMP-activation of amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels from guinea-pig colon expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Pflugers Arch 1996; 431:913-22. [PMID: 8927509 DOI: 10.1007/s004240050085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Guinea-pig distal colonic mRNA injection into Xenopus laevis oocytes resulted in expression of functional active epithelial Na+ channels in the oocyte plasma membrane. Poly(A)+ RNA was extracted from distal colonic mucosa of animals fed either a high-salt (HS) or a low-salt (LS) diet. The electrophysiological properties of the expressed amiloride-sensitive Na+ conductances were investigated by conventional two-electrode voltage-clamp and patch-clamp measurements. Injection of poly(A)+ RNA from HS-fed animals [from hereon referred to as HS-poly(A)+ RNA] into oocytes induced the expression of amiloride-sensitive Na+ conductances. On the other hand, oocytes injected with poly(A)+ RNA from LS-fed animals [LS-poly(A)+ RNA] expressed a markedly larger amount of amiloride-blockable Na+ conductances. LS-poly(A)+ RNA-induced conductances were completely inhibitable by amiloride with a Ki of 77 nM, and were also blocked by benzamil with a Ki of 1.8 nM. 5-(N-Ethyl-N-isopropyl)-amiloride (EIPA), even in high doses (25 "mu"M), had no detectable effect on the Na+ conductances. Expressed amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels could be further activated by cAMP leading to nearly doubled clamp currents. When Na+ was replaced by K+, amiloride (1 "mu"M) showed no effect on the clamp current. Single-channel analysis revealed slow gating behaviour, open probabilities (Po) between 0.4 and 0.9, and slope conductances of 3. 8 pS for Na+ and 5.6 pS for Li+. The expressed channels showed to be highly selective for Na+ over K+ with a permeability ratio PNa/PK > 20. Amiloride (500 nM) reduced channel Po to values < 0.05. All these features make the guinea-pig distal colon of LS-fed animals an interesting mRNA source for the expression of highly amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels in Xenopus oocytes, which could provide new insights in the regulatory mechanism of these channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- K M Liebold
- Institute for Animal Physiology, Justus-Liebig-University, Wartweg 95, D-35392 Giessen, Germany
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Boll M, Herget M, Wagener M, Weber WM, Markovich D, Biber J, Clauss W, Murer H, Daniel H. Expression cloning and functional characterization of the kidney cortex high-affinity proton-coupled peptide transporter. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1996; 93:284-9. [PMID: 8552623 PMCID: PMC40223 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.93.1.284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The presence of a proton-coupled electrogenic high-affinity peptide transporter in the apical membrane of tubular cells has been demonstrated by microperfusion studies and by use of brush border membrane vesicles. The transporter mediates tubular uptake of filtered di- and tripeptides and aminocephalosporin antibiotics. We have used expression cloning in Xenopus laevis oocytes for identification and characterization of the renal high-affinity peptide transporter. Injection of poly(A)+ RNA isolated from rabbit kidney cortex into oocytes resulted in expression of a pH-dependent transport activity for the aminocephalosporin antibiotic cefadroxil. After size fractionation of poly(A)+ RNA the transport activity was identified in the 3.0- to 5.0-kb fractions, which were used for construction of a cDNA library. The library was screened for expression of cefadroxil transport after injection of complementary RNA synthesized in vitro from different pools of clones. A single clone (rPepT2) was isolated that stimulated cefadroxil uptake into oocytes approximately 70-fold at a pH of 6.0. Kinetic analysis of cefadroxil uptake expressed by the transporter's complementary RNA showed a single saturable high-affinity transport system shared by dipeptides, tripeptides, and selected amino-beta-lactam antibiotics. Electrophysiological studies established that the transport activity is electrogenic and affected by membrane potential. Sequencing of the cDNA predicts a protein of 729 amino acids with 12 membrane-spanning domains. Although there is a significant amino acid sequence identity (47%) to the recently cloned peptide transporters from rabbit and human small intestine, the renal transporter shows distinct structural and functional differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Boll
- Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Giessen, Germany
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Barbry P, Lazdunski M. Structure and regulation of the amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel. ION CHANNELS 1996; 4:115-167. [PMID: 8744208 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4899-1775-1_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- P Barbry
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, CNRS, Valbonne, France
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Weber WM, Liebold KM, Reifarth FW, Clauss W. The Ca(2+)-induced leak current in Xenopus oocytes is indeed mediated through a Cl- channel. J Membr Biol 1995; 148:263-75. [PMID: 8747558 DOI: 10.1007/bf00235044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Defolliculated oocytes of Xenopus laevis responded to removal of external divalent cations with large depolarizations and, when voltage clamped, with huge currents. Single channel analysis revealed a Cl- channel with a slope conductance of about 90 pS at positive membrane potentials with at least four substates. Single channel amplitudes and mean channel currents had a reversal potential of approximately -15 mV as predicted by the Nernst equation for a channel perfectly selective for Cl-. Readdition of Ca2+ immediately inactivated the channel and restored the former membrane potential or clamp current. The inward currents were mediated by a Ca2+ inactivated Cl- channel (CaIC). The inhibitory potency of Ca2+ was a function of the external Ca2+ concentration with a half maximal blocker concentration of about 20 microM. These channels were inhibited by the Cl- channel blockers flufenamic acid, niflumic acid and diphenylamine-2-carboxylate (DPC). In contrast, 4,4'-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2, 2'-disulfonicacid (SITS), another Cl- channel blocker, led to activation of this Cl- channel. Like other Cl- channels, the CaIC was activated by cytosolic cAMP. Extracellular ATP inhibited the channel while ADP was without any effect. Injection of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a protein kinase C activating phorbol ester, stimulated the Cl- current. Cytochalasin D, an actin filament disrupting compound, reversibly decreased the clamp current demonstrating an influence of the cytoskeleton. The results indicate that removal of divalent cations activates Cl- channels in Xenopus oocytes which share several features with Cl- channels of the CLC family. The former so-called leak current of oocytes under divalent cation-free conditions is nothing else than an activation of Cl- channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- W M Weber
- Institut für Tierphysiologie, Jusois-Liebig-Universităt, Giessen, FRG
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Weber WM, Liebold KM, Clauss W. Amiloride-sensitive Na+ conductance in native Xenopus oocytes. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 1995; 1239:201-6. [PMID: 7488625 DOI: 10.1016/0005-2736(95)00151-r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Endogenous Na+ conductances in the plasma membrane of oocytes of the South African clawed toad Xenopus laevis were investigated by microelectrode techniques and influx measurements. Removal of Na+ from the bath solution under voltage clamp conditions led to a decrease in the clamp current indicating the existence of native Na+ conductances. The observed current was voltage dependent but showed no marked rectification. Amiloride (10 microM) blocked this Na+ current reversibly. However, amiloride analogues such as benzamil and phenamil had no effect on this Na+ conductance. The Na+/H(+)-exchanger blocker EIPA (5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl)amiloride), another amiloride analogue, also had no effect thereby excluding a possible involvement of the Na+/H+ exchanger. The Na+ mediated current had a reversal potential of about 50 mV suggesting high selectivity of these Na+ conductances for Na+ over other monovalent cations. When Na+ was replaced by K+ in the bath solution, amiloride had no effect on the clamp current over the whole potential range demonstrating that only Na+ but not K+ can enter the cell via the investigated conductances. In radio tracer experiments 22Na+ influx into oocytes was nearly halved in presence of amiloride (10 microM), whereas benzamil and phenamil again failed to influence 22Na+ influx. These results suggest that the endogenous amiloride-sensitive Na+ conductance belongs to a new class of channels which is quite different from amiloride-sensitive epithelial Na+ channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- W M Weber
- Institute for Animal Physiology, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Giessen, Germany
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Weber WM, Liebold KM, Reifarth FW, Uhr U, Clauss W. Influence of extracellular Ca2+ on endogenous Cl- channels in Xenopus oocytes. Pflugers Arch 1995; 429:820-4. [PMID: 7603836 DOI: 10.1007/bf00374806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Removal of Ca2+ from the external bath solution evoked marked depolarization and large currents (up to several microamperes) in voltage-clamped defolliculated oocytes of Xenopus laevis. The resulting current was not carried by a cation influx but was due to a huge Cl- efflux, which could be strongly inhibited by the Cl- channel blockers flufenamic acid and niflumic acid. Removal of Mg2+ or Ba2+ from the solutions had the same effects as removing Ca2+. The reversal potential of -12 mV also indicated that Cl- channels were responsible for the large currents. Patch-clamp studies revealed a single-channel slope conductance of 90 pS. During oocyte maturation these channels remained active. The half-maximal Ca2+ concentration of about 20 microM showed that quite low doses of extracellular Ca2+ profoundly influence the electrical properties of the oocyte membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- W M Weber
- Institut für Tierphysiologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Giessen, Germany
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Boll M, Markovich D, Weber WM, Korte H, Daniel H, Murer H. Expression cloning of a cDNA from rabbit small intestine related to proton-coupled transport of peptides, beta-lactam antibiotics and ACE-inhibitors. Pflugers Arch 1994; 429:146-9. [PMID: 7708476 DOI: 10.1007/bf02584043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 154] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Injection of poly(A)+ RNA from rabbit small intestine into Xenopus laevis oocytes resulted in expression of pH dependent transport of the aminocephalosporin cefadroxil. A cDNA library constructed from a 2.2 to 5 kb fraction was screened for expression of cefadroxil transport after injection of the corresponding cRNA synthetized in vitro from different pools of clones. The single clone identified stimulated uptake of cefadroxil into oocytes about 50-fold at pH 6.5. Kinetic analysis of expressed transport activity revealed a saturable transport system shared by amino beta-lactam antibiotics, dipeptides and selected angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors. Evidence for rheogenic cefadroxil/H(+)-cotransport was obtained by a) The demonstration that cefadroxil influx increased the inward current in oocytes clamped at a holding potential of -60 mV in sodium-free medium and b) A decrease of intracellular pH in oocytes caused by cefadroxil uptake. Current-voltage relationships in the presence of glycylsarcosine or cefadroxil showed that transport activity is dependent on the membrane potential. Sequencing of the cDNA revealed its identity with the recently cloned peptide transporter from rabbit small intestine designated PepT1.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Boll
- Institue of Nutritional Sciences, University of Giessen, Germany
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