Maturational changes in renal tubular transport

Purpose of review: This review examines the maturational changes that occur in renal tubules during postnatal development. Recent findings: The ability to study transport in neonatal tubules and the use of molecular techniques have allowed studies that not only examine the mechanism of solute and water transport in neonates but also what causes the maturational changes in transport at a molecular and cellular level. Summary: This review demonstrates that there are significant quantitative and qualitative differences in transport during postnatal maturation in every nephron segment. In some segments the maturational changes involve simply a change in abundance of transporters, while in others the difference in transport is due to changes in transporter isoforms, changes in paracellular permeability or changes in intracellular signaling that regulate the transporter. This review focuses on these changes and what is known about what causes the maturational changes in transport.