Aquaporin biology and nervous system.
Aquaporin biology and nervous system.
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DOI：
10.2174/157015910791233204
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发表时间：
2010-06
影响因子：
5.3
通讯作者：
Buffoli B
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Buffoli B
水通道蛋白(Aquaporins，AQPs)家族的发现极大地促进了我们对水在细胞膜中运动的理解。这些蛋白质存在于生命的各个层次的生物体中，它们独特的通透性特征和在众多组织中的分布表明，它们在调节水分动态平衡方面发挥着不同的作用。AQP基因敲除小鼠的表型分析证实了AQP在渗透压驱动的跨上皮液运输中的预测作用，就像在尿液浓缩机制和腺液分泌中所发生的那样。关于它们在神经系统中的表达，有证据表明，水通道蛋白在外周和中枢神经系统中的表达存在差异，通道介导的水转运机制可能参与脑脊液的形成、神经信号转导和信息处理。此外，最近的一些研究揭示了哺乳动物AQP在生理和病理生理机制中的重要性，并表明AQP表达和活性的药物调节可能为治疗水和小溶质运输可能涉及的各种人类疾病提供新的工具。对于所有的水通道蛋白，随着这一迅速扩大的研究领域的持续工作，很可能会发现对生理功能的新贡献。
Our understanding of the movement of water through cell membranes has been greatly advanced by the discovery of a family of water-specific, membrane-channel proteins: the Aquaporins (AQPs). These proteins are present in organisms at all levels of life, and their unique permeability characteristics and distribution in numerous tissues indicate diverse roles in the regulation of water homeostasis. Phenotype analysis of AQP knock-out mice has confirmed the predicted role of AQPs in osmotically driven transepithelial fluid transport, as occurs in the urinary concentrating mechanism and glandular fluid secretion. Regarding their expression in nervous system, there are evidences suggesting that AQPs are differentially expressed in the peripheral versus central nervous system and that channel-mediated water transport mechanisms may be involved in cerebrospinal fluid formation, neuronal signal transduction and information processing. Moreover, a number of recent studies have revealed the importance of mammalian AQPs in both physiological and pathophysiological mechanisms and have suggested that pharmacological modulation of AQP expression and activity may provide new tools for the treatment of variety of human disorders in which water and small solute transport may be involved. For all the AQPs, new contributions to physiological functions are likely to be discovered with ongoing work in this rapidly expanding field of research.