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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

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Preparation of a High-quality Primary Cell Culture from Fish Pituitaries
Published on: August 28, 2018
Regulatory volume decrease and P receptor signaling in fish cells: mechanisms, physiology, and modeling approaches
Osvaldo Chara1, María V Espelt, Gerhard Krumschnabel
1IFLYSIB (CONICET, UNLP), La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Summary
Animal cells regulate volume after swelling in hypotonic solutions. This review highlights fish cell volume regulation, focusing on extracellular nucleotides and modeling approaches for cell volume recovery.
Area of Science:
- Cellular Physiology
- Comparative Physiology
Background:
- Animal cell membranes readily allow water influx, causing swelling in hypotonic environments.
- Regulatory volume decrease (RVD) mechanisms prevent cell lysis but are less studied in non-mammalian vertebrates.
- Fish cells offer diverse models for studying adaptive physiological mechanisms in cell volume regulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review hypotonic volume regulation in fish, summarizing known transporters and signaling pathways.
- To focus on the role of extracellular nucleotides in fish cell volume recovery.
- To present and discuss modeling approaches for understanding cell volume regulation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of fish cell volume regulation.
- Focus on experimental data concerning extracellular nucleotides in fish cell models.
- Analysis of various modeling approaches for cell volume regulation.
Main Results:
- Summarizes known transporters and signaling pathways involved in fish RVD.
- Highlights the significant role of extracellular nucleotides in mediating volume recovery in swollen fish cells.
- Discusses the utility of modeling approaches in elucidating theoretical frameworks of volume regulation.
Conclusions:
- Fish cells possess sophisticated mechanisms for hypotonic volume regulation.
- Extracellular nucleotides are key mediators in fish cell volume recovery.
- Modeling provides valuable insights into the fundamental principles of cell volume control across species.
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