91制片厂

DURHAM, N.H.鈥擜 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help a 91制片厂 researcher better understand dehydration and ultimately help humans better survive it by studying a tiny desert rodent that鈥檚 adapted to survive both acute and chronic dehydration.

鈥淲e know that many people suffer from dehydration, from the elderly to soldiers in desert wars to the many people worldwide without access to clean water,鈥� said , assistant professor of genome-enabled biology. 鈥淯nderstanding how mice survive dehydration may help us understand why humans don鈥檛 survive it, and maybe how we could help them.鈥�

The five-year, $1.7 million will allow MacManes and his team to study the physiology and genomics of cactus mice in the field and the lab.

鈥淭his career-changing NIH grant will significantly advance Matt鈥檚 important work in understanding dehydration,鈥� said Jan Nisbet, senior vice provost for research at 91制片厂. 鈥淚 congratulate him and look forward to the results of his research.鈥�

Field work will take place in the southern California desert, where they鈥檒l capture mice and study their physiology 鈥� mainly electrolytes and urine concentrations 鈥� as well as population genomics to try to understand which parts of the genome are involved in helping the mice adapt to the desert. In the lab, researchers will monitor captive mice鈥檚 metabolic rates, blood pressure and heart rate under different hydration scenarios for a deeper exploration of the physical response to dehydration. MacManes is looking at how the mice maintain blood pressure in their kidneys when they鈥檙e severely dehydrated, as kidney failure is a serious impact of dehydration in humans.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a molecule that seems to preserve blood pressure in their kidneys, and we can pharmacologically manipulate this molecule to study its role in protecting the kidneys,鈥� he said. He鈥檒l also be looking at the influence of diet 鈥� proteins and carbohydrates 鈥� on dehydration.

鈥淲hat if we could help soldiers, or other people who have to work in hot, dry environments, survive dehydration by feeding them a particular diet?鈥� MacManes says, about his long-term goals.

MacManes notes that this work is particularly relevant in a changing climate that鈥檚 predicted to make much of the Earth, particularly North America, hotter and drier. 鈥淭here are lots of places on the Earth where there will continue to be fresh water, but we can鈥檛 all move there,鈥� he said.