Electrophysiology of Triturus nephron: Cable properties and electrogenic transport systems

The Robert F. Pitts Memorial Lectureships were founded in 1978, when the many friends and admirers of Robert Pitts established a fund in memory of that distinguished physiologist. The Lecturer is selected by the Renal Commission of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, with the Chair of Physiology at Cornell University Medical College acting ex officio. The Lecture is presented at each International Congress of Physiological Sciences. At the XXXI Congress held in Helsinki, Finland, the Pitts Lecturer was Professor Takeshi Hoshi, from Shizuoka, Japan. He delivered the lecture on July 13, 1989.There are several aspects about the choice of Professor Hoshi that seem singularly fitting. First and foremost, he is an outstanding physiologist who, like Robert Pitts, has contributed much to our understanding of renal function. Professor Hoshi, in a classical experiment with Sakai in the early sixties, showed for the first time that ions can cross the proximal tubule epithelium while avoiding the cytosol. These experiments which were concomitant with those of Windhager, Boulpaep and Giebisch, have been confirmed by others. The paracellular pathway for ion flow is now accepted as of paramount importance to the function of leaky epithelia. Then in 1968 Professor Hoshi with his coworkers discovered that glucose and sodium ions share a common mechanism as they enter the proximal tubular cells from the lumen during absorption. And shortly after he made similar findings concerning the relation between amino acids and sodium transport, and concerning the transport of other organic molecules and sodium. Again, these findings have been confirmed in other laboratories. These and other findings of Professor Hoshi contribute not only to a better knowledge of kidney function, but they have increased our understanding of the function of other epithelia as well.Professor Hoshi graduated from the School of Medicine ofTohoku University, Senday, and finished the Graduate Course in Physiology in 1954 in the same University, where he was an Instructor in Physiology until 1957 when he moved to the University of Tokyo. There in 1968 he became Professor of Physiology and Chairman until 1987. He then moved as Dean and Professor Emeritus of Physiology in the University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka. Professor Hoshi has been a Fulbright Scholar in the Laboratory of Professor Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen in Duke University in the United States. He has been scientific adviser to the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan. He is a member of the editorial board of various Journals and has held offices in the directive bodies of several Japanese scientific societies.Guillermo Whittembury Chair, Renal Commission IUPSPrevious Robert F. Pitts Memorial lectures1980 Rolf Kinne, Federal Republic of Germany1983 James A. Schafer, USA1986 Gerhard Malnic, Brazi