The kidney of marine teleosts is the major site of Mg 2ϩ excretion and produces urine with a high Mg 2ϩ concentration. However, the transporters involved in Mg 2ϩ excretion are poorly understood. The cyclin M (Cnnm; also known as ancient conserved domain protein) family comprises membrane proteins homologous to the bacterial Mg 2ϩ and Co 2ϩ efflux protein, CorC. To understand the molecular mechanism of Mg 2ϩ homeostasis in marine teleosts, we analyzed the expression of the Cnnm family genes in the seawater (SW) pufferfish, torafugu (Takifugu rubripes), and the closely related euryhaline species, mefugu (Takifugu obscurus). Database mining and phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Takifugu genome contains six members of the Cnnm family: two orthologs of Cnnm1, one of Cnnm2, one of Cnnm3, and two of Cnnm4. RT-PCR analyses indicated that Cnnm2, Cnnm3, and Cnnm4a are expressed in the kidney, whereas other members are mainly expressed in the brain. Renal expression of Cnnm3 was upregulated in SW mefugu, whereas renal expression of Cnnm2 was upregulated in freshwater (FW) mefugu. No significant difference was observed in renal expression of Cnnm4a between SW and FW mefugu. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses of the SW mefugu kidney revealed that Cnnm3 is expressed in the proximal tubule, and its product localizes to the lateral membrane. When Cnnm3 was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, whole cellular Mg 2ϩ content and free intracellular Mg 2ϩ activity significantly decreased. These results suggest that Cnnm3 is involved in body fluid Mg 2ϩ homeostasis in marine teleosts.Cnnm3; proximal tubule; marine teleost; magnesium homeostasis; lateral membrane SEAWATER (SW) CONTAINS ϳ53 mM Mg 2ϩ , a concentration ϳ50 times higher than that in the plasma of marine teleosts. The bladder urine Mg 2ϩ concentration of marine teleosts is 57-167 mM (4,5,29,36), and urine-to-plasma ratios of Mg 2ϩ can exceed 100. Renal tubular fluid secretion accounts for much or all initial urine production in glomerular or aglomerular marine teleosts, and the renal proximal tubule is the major site of fluid secretion and Mg 2ϩ excretion (4,5,18,33 , which is reduced to ϳ2.9 mol·kg Ϫ1 ·h Ϫ1 in final urine, indicating net Mg 2ϩ reabsorption in the renal tubule (5).Proximal tubules isolated from the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) generate a Mg 2ϩ concentration of 27 mM in the tubule lumen when the medium contains 1 mM Mg 2ϩ (3,11). Mg 2ϩ is secreted from the peritubular bath into the tubule lumen against electrochemical potentials; therefore, the mechanism of active Mg 2ϩ transport must be powerful (5). In the urine of marine teleosts, urinary Mg 2ϩ and Na ϩ concentrations are negatively correlated, suggesting that Mg 2ϩ excretion is coupled with Na ϩ reabsorption (32). X-ray microanalysis of freeze-dried cryosections of the kidneys of the dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) demonstrated the presence of small apical vacuoles containing high concentrations of Mg (over 200 mM) in the proximal tubular cells (17). Ion m...