To evaluate the possible role of a putative vesicle-targeting protein, syntaxin-4, in vasopressin-regulated trafficking of aquaporin-2 water channel vesicles to the apical plasma membrane of renal collecting duct cells, we have carried out immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry, and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR experiments in rat kidney. Immunochemical studies used an affinity-purified, peptide-...

Accumulating evidence indicates that aquaporins play a key role in plant water relations. Plant aquaporins are part of a large and highly divergent protein family that can be divided into four subfamilies according to amino acid sequence similarity. As in other organisms, plant aquaporins facilitate the transcellular movement of water, but, in some cases, also the flux of small neutral solutes ...

Aquaporins are a specific type of membrane channel proteins that efficiently transport water molecules and other small molecular substrates in plants. In this study, we isolated the plasma aquaporin gene EuPIP1;2 from Eucommia ulmoides, an important medicinal plant China. The protein was localized on membrane. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed constitutively expressed all analyzed tissues, ...

Water is the major component of cells and tissues throughout all forms of life. Fluxes of water and solutes through cell membranes and epithelia are essential for osmoregulation and energy homeostasis. Aquaporins are membrane channels expressed in almost every organism and involved in the bidirectional transfer of water and small solutes across cell membranes. Aquaporins have important biologic...

Aquaporin-4 water channels play a central role in brain water regulation in neurological disorders. Aquaporin-4 is abundantly expressed at the astroglial endfeet facing the cerebral vasculature and the pial membrane, and both its expression level and subcellular localization significantly influence brain water transport. However, measurements of aquaporin-4 levels in animal models of brain inju...

Ubiquitination is involved in a variety of biological processes, but the exact role of ubiquitination in abiotic responses is not clearly understood in higher plants. Here, we investigated Rma1H1, a hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) homolog of a human RING membrane-anchor 1 E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase. Bacterially expressed Rma1H1 displayed E3 Ub ligase activity in vitro. Rma1H1 was rapidly induced by ...

The positive buoyancy of marine fish eggs in sea water, allowed by hydration of the oocyte, is critical for their survival and dispersion in the ocean. We isolated an aquaporin, SaAQP1o, that belongs to a unique subfamily of aquaporin-1-like channels specifically evolved in teleosts and mainly expressed in the ovary. We further show that hormone-induced fish oocyte hydration is a highly control...

We previously showed that aquaresis induced by the peripherally acting nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptor agonist ZP120 is associated with a decreased protein level of aquaporin-2 (AQP2) in whole-kidney homogenates. We now examined the effects of Ac-RYYRWKKKKKKK-NH(2) (ZP120) (1 nmol/kg/min i.v. for 4 h) on renal regional expression (cortex/outer stripe of outer medulla, inner stripe of outer medu...

Aquaporin-4, the major water-selective channel in astroglia throughout the central nervous system, facilitates water movement into and out of the brain. Here, we identify a novel role for aquaporin-4 in astroglial cell migration, as occurs during glial scar formation. Astroglia cultured from the neocortex of aquaporin-4-null mice had similar morphology, proliferation and adhesion, but markedly ...

Aquaporin attracted attention not only of physiologists and biophysicists, but also of chemical engineers. Here we critically analyze a paper describing aquaporin-based artificial membranes, suggested for forward osmosis-based water purification (Wang et al. 2012, Small 8, pp. 1185-1190). Related papers published later by the same group are also discussed. We indicate recently developed general...