The phosphate bucket list.

As our understanding of phosphate homeostasis has expanded over the last 20 years, additional quandaries have surfaced. Though the phosphate bucket list remains full, we are confident that the next 20 years will lead to major fundamental discoveries. In this commentary, we provide an example of how findings from a basic study that examined the mechanisms for circadian rhythms of plasma and urinary phosphate sheds light on important pathways that can be harnessed for novel therapeutic approaches in the future.