Aquaporins are multifunctional water and solute transporters highly divergent in living organisms

Aquaporins (AQPs) are ubiquitous membrane proteins whose identification, pioneered by Peter Agre's team in the early nineties, provided a molecular basis for transmembrane water transport, which was previously thought to occur only by free diffusion. AQPs are members of the Major Intrinsic Prot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochimica et biophysica acta 2009-06, Vol.1788 (6), p.1213-1228
Main Authors: Gomes, D., Agasse, A., Thiébaud, P., Delrot, S., Gerós, H., Chaumont, F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Animals
Aquaglyceroporin
Aquaporin
Aquaporin specificity
Aquaporins - chemistry
Aquaporins - genetics
Aquaporins - metabolism
Brain - physiology
Cell Membrane - metabolism
Endoplasmic Reticulum - physiology
Environmental Sciences
Evolution, Molecular
Glycerol - metabolism
Humans
Kidney - physiology
Life Sciences
Mammals
MIP
Models, Molecular
Molecular Sequence Data
NPA
Plant aquaporin
Plant Proteins - chemistry
Plant Proteins - metabolism
Protein Conformation
Spinacia oleracea - metabolism
Urea - metabolism
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Summary:Aquaporins (AQPs) are ubiquitous membrane proteins whose identification, pioneered by Peter Agre's team in the early nineties, provided a molecular basis for transmembrane water transport, which was previously thought to occur only by free diffusion. AQPs are members of the Major Intrinsic Protein (MIP) family and often referred to as water channels. In mammals and plants they are present in almost all organs and tissues and their function is mostly associated to water molecule movement. However, recent studies have pointed out a wider range of substrates for these proteins as well as complex regulation levels and pathways. Although their relative abundance in plants and mammals makes it difficult to investigate the role of a particular AQP, the use of knock-out and mutagenesis techniques is now bringing important clues regarding the direct implication of specific AQPs in animal pathologies or plant deficiencies. The present paper gives an overview about AQP structure, function and regulation in a broad range of living organisms. Emphasis will be given on plant AQPs where the high number and diversity of these transport proteins, together with some emerging aspects of their functionalities, make them behave more like multifunctional, highly adapted channels rather than simple water pores.
ISSN:0005-2736
0006-3002
1879-2642
DOI:10.1016/j.bbamem.2009.03.009