title: NaX sodium channel is expressed in non-myelinating Schwann cells and alveolar type II cells in mice.
abstract: Na(x) is an extracellular sodium-level-sensitive sodium channel expressed in the circumventricular organs in the brain, essential loci for the sodium-level homeostasis in body fluids. Here, we examined the localization of Na(x) throughout the visceral organs at the cellular level. In visceral organs including lung, heart, intestine, bladder, kidney and tongue, a subset of Schwann cells within the peripheral nerve trunks were highly positive for Na(x). An electron microscopic study indicated that these Na(x)-positive cells were non-myelinating Schwann cells. In the lung, Na(x)-positive signals were also observed in the alveolar type II cells, which actively absorb sodium and water to aid gas exchange through the alveolar surface. It was thus suggested that the Na(x) sodium channel is involved in controlling the local extracellular sodium level through sodium absorption activity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Neurobiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Takeshi Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Hiyama
authors.forename: Ryuji
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004386:Duodenum / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000378:metabolism; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels
chemical_list: C503483:Scn7a protein, mouse; D015222:Sodium Channels; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels