Robert A. Fenton received his PhD in Physiology from the University of Manchester, UK and undertook the majority of his postdoctoral training at the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA. For the last 15 years he has conducted research at Aarhus University, Denmark, where he is currently Professor of Molecular Cell Biology and leader of a membrane protein research group and research center. He is recognized internationally as a major contributor to the core knowledge base of renal epithelial cell physiology and nephrology and has made landmark achievements in the field of urea transporters, aquaporin water channels and various renal cotransporters. Prof. Fenton’s current research uses a systems biology approach to unravel the role of various renal membrane transport proteins in the control of blood pressure and water balance. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and his scientific accomplishments are recognized by numerous competitive national and international awards from the Renal Section of the American Physiological Society and the Nordic research community, including the Anders Jahre Prize for Young Researchers and the Danish Ministry for Higher Education and Science Elite Research Prize.

Publications

• Dietary potassium stimulates Ppp1Ca-Ppp1r1a dephosphorylation of kidney NaCl co-transporter and reduces blood pressure.
  Grimm PR, Tatomir A, Rosenbaek LL, Kim BY, Li D, Delpire EJ, Fenton RA, Welling PA

  J Clin Invest. 2023 Sep 7:e158498. doi: 10.1172/JCI158498. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37676724.

  [Article]


• Randomized Trial on the Effect of Oral Potassium Chloride Supplementation on the Thiazide-Sensitive Sodium Chloride Cotransporter in Healthy Adults.
  Wu A, Wolley MJ, Mayr HL, Cheng L, Cowley D, Li B, Campbell KL, Terker AS, Ellison DH, Welling PA, Fenton RA, Stowasser M Kidney Int Rep. 2023 Mar 27;8(6):1201-1212. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2023.03.011. PMID: 37284683; PMCID: PMC10239795. [Article]


• Dissociation of sodium-chloride cotransporter expression and blood pressure during chronic high dietary potassium supplementation.
  Little R, Murali SK, Poulsen SB, Grimm PR, Assmus A, Cheng L, Ivy JR, Hoorn EJ, Matchkov V, Welling PA, Fenton RA JCI Insight. 2023 Mar 8;8(5):e156437. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.156437. PMID: 36719746; PMCID: PMC10077486. [Article]


• Cryo-EM structure of the human NKCC1 transporter reveals mechanisms of ion coupling and specificity.
  Neumann C, Rosenbaek LL, Flygaard RK, Habeck M, Karlsen JL, Wang Y, Lindorff-Larsen K, Gad HH, Hartmann R, Lyons JA, Fenton RA, EMBO J. 2022 Dec 1;41(23):e110169. doi: 10.15252/embj.2021110169. Epub 2022 Oct 14. PMID: 36239040; PMCID: PMC9713717. [Article]


• Genetic deletion of the nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 in collecting duct principal cells causes nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
  Petrillo F, Chernyakov D, Esteva-Font C, Poulsen SB, Edemir B, Fenton RA. FASEB J. 2022 Nov;36(11):e22583. doi: 10.1096/fj.202200856R. PMID: 36197017. [Article]


• Genetic deletion of the nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 in collecting duct principal cells causes nephrogenic diabetes insipidus.
  Petrillo F, Chernyakov D, Esteva-Font C, Poulsen SB, Edemir B, Fenton RA. FASEB J. 2022 Nov;36(11):e22583. doi: 10.1096/fj.202200856R. PMID: 36197017. [Article]


• The E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase Nedd4-2 regulates the sodium chloride cotransporter NCC but is not required for a potassium-induced reduction of NCC expression.
  Rosenbaek LL, Petrillo F, van Bemmelen MX, Staub O, Murali SK, Fenton RA. Front Physiol. 2022 Sep 7;13:971251. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.971251. PMID: 36160843; PMCID: PMC9490057. [Article]


• Using human urinary extracellular vesicles to study physiological and pathophysiological states and regulation of the sodium chloride cotransporter.
  Wu A, Wolley MJ, Fenton RA, Stowasser M. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Aug 29;13:981317. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.981317. PMID: 36105401; PMCID: PMC9465297. [Article]


• n Primary Aldosteronism Acute Potassium Chloride Supplementation Suppresses Abundance and Phosphorylation of the Sodium-Chloride Cotransporter.
  Wu A, Wolley MJ, Matthews A, Cowley D, Welling PA, Fenton RA, Stowasser M. Kidney360. 2022 Aug 26;3(11):1909-1923. doi: 10.34067/KID.0003632022. PMID: 36514401; PMCID: PMC9717638. [Article]


• Potassium homeostasis: sensors, mediators, and targets.
  McDonough AA, Fenton RA Pflugers Arch. 2022 Aug;474(8):853-867. doi: 10.1007/s00424-022-02718-3. Epub 2022 Jun 21. PMID: 35727363; PMCID: PMC10163916. [Article]