Regulation and Function of AQP4 in the Central Nervous System

Mette Assentoft, Brian Roland Larsen, Nanna MacAulay

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) is the predominant water channel in the mammalian brain and is mainly expressed in the perivascular glial endfeet at the brain-blood interface. Based on studies on AQP4(-/-) mice, AQP4 has been assigned physiological roles in stimulus-induced K(+) clearance, paravascular fluid flow, and brain edema formation. Conflicting data have been presented on the role of AQP4 in K(+) clearance and associated extracellular space shrinkage and on the stroke-induced alterations of AQP4 expression levels during edema formation, raising questions about the functional importance of AQP4 in these (patho)physiological aspects. Phosphorylation-dependent gating of AQP4 has been proposed as a regulatory mechanism for AQP4-mediated osmotic water transport. This paradigm was, however, recently challenged by experimental evidence and molecular dynamics simulations. Regulatory patterns and physiological roles for AQP4 thus remain to be fully explored.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNeurochemical Research
Volume40
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)2615-2627
Number of pages13
ISSN0364-3190
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2015

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