It is currently unknown whether NHERF-1 is directly phosphorylated by activated SGK1. Since SGK1 can directly interact with NHERF family proteins in the distal tubule [24], it is conceivable that NHERF-1 is directly phosphorylated by SGK1 also in proximal tubules. It was previously thought that αKlotho is mainly expressed in the distal

tubule [4]. Earlier immunohistochemical studies using a rat monoclonal anti-Klotho antibody on cryosections failed to detect αKlotho in proximal tubules of mice [25]. In addition, Farrow and coworkers [26] showed in a time course study that the earliest changes in activation selleck chemicals of ERK1/2 after injection of FGF23 in vivo in mice occur in the distal tubules. Therefore, the current dogma is that FGF23 acts on the distal tubule where it generates an unknown endocrine or paracrine secondary signal that in turn signals back to the proximal tubule to downregulate transcellular phosphate transport [6] and [7]. Hu et al. [8] proposed an alternative hypothesis, namely that αKlotho itself may be a phosphaturic hormone by

altering the glycosylation pattern of NaPi-2a integrated in the apical membrane through its putative Selleck AZD2281 enzymatic activity. The latter hypothesis requires the presence of αKlotho at the apical cell membrane where NaPi-2a is expressed. However, our study using a polyclonal rabbit antibody clearly showed that αKlotho is expressed in proximal tubular epithelium, but mainly at the basolateral membrane, suggesting

that the major function of αKlotho may be its function as a co-receptor for blood-borne FGF23. The discrepant findings regarding αKlotho expression in the kidney in our compared with earlier studies [25] may be explained by differences in the anti-Klotho antibodies used. If the phosphaturic action of FGF23 is a direct effect on proximal tubules, how can it then be explained that the earliest signaling events after injection of FGF23 in vivo occur in distal tubules [26]? Unpublished data (Andrukhova et al.) DOK2 from our laboratory have shown that FGF23 is also an important regulator of the TRPV5 epithelial calcium channel in distal tubules, suggesting that FGF23 may have parallel and independent effects in proximal and distal renal tubules. The FGF23-induced signaling events in distal renal tubules may occur faster than in proximal tubules, explaining the findings by Farrow et al. [26]. A caveat of the current study is that we used a concentration of 100 ng/ml in most of our in vitro experiments. Faul and coworkers [27] recently showed that FGF23 can signal in an αKlotho independent fashion at concentration of 10 ng/ml and higher. In agreement with the data of Faul et al. [27], we also found some Klotho independent activity of 100 ng/ml rFGF23 to suppress NaPi-2a expression in proximal tubular segments in vitro.