New protein senses salt balance in vertebrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The finding could have major implications for the development of new diuretic and some antihypertensive drugs that work by regulating the salt balance. Osmotic pressure, or total salt balance, is the most tightly controlled parameter in the body, says Jeffrey Friedman, of The Rockefeller University in New York City. If the salt level in the body were not carefully regulated, water would rush into the cells, causing them to swell and possibly burst. In yeast and bacteria, single-celled creatures, proteins in the membrane regulate the balance of salt and water inside of the cell. In more complicated creatures, the brain takes the job of regulating salt and water balance for the whole organism.