“…The main subtypes are alpha-ICs, which reduce acidosis by secreting protons into the lumen of the collecting duct, and beta-ICs, which reduce alkalosis by secreting bicarbonate. To function as polar opposites during pH regulation, these two subtypes differentially localize the H + vATPase along the apicobasal axis and differentially express the anion exchangers Ae1 and Pendrin (Royaux et al, 2001;Devonald et al, 2003;Stehberger et al, 2003;Stehberger et al, 2007;Hinton et al, 2009). How different subtypes of ICs form has been mainly addressed in the mammalian adult, in which, under chronic pH imbalances, the proportions of alpha-and beta-ICs appear to shift, leading to the suggestion that they are plastic and interconvertible (Al-Awqati, 1996;Schwartz et al, 2002;Wagner et al, 2002;Schwartz and Al-Awqati, 2005).…”