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      Astrocyte Aquaporin Dynamics in Health and Disease

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          Abstract

          The family of aquaporins (AQPs), membrane water channels, consists of diverse types of proteins that are mainly permeable to water; some are also permeable to small solutes, such as glycerol and urea. They have been identified in a wide range of organisms, from microbes to vertebrates and plants, and are expressed in various tissues. Here, we focus on AQP types and their isoforms in astrocytes, a major glial cell type in the central nervous system (CNS). Astrocytes have anatomical contact with the microvasculature, pia, and neurons. Of the many roles that astrocytes have in the CNS, they are key in maintaining water homeostasis. The processes involved in this regulation have been investigated intensively, in particular regulation of the permeability and expression patterns of different AQP types in astrocytes. Three aquaporin types have been described in astrocytes: aquaporins AQP1 and AQP4 and aquaglyceroporin AQP9. The aim here is to review their isoforms, subcellular localization, permeability regulation, and expression patterns in the CNS. In the human CNS, AQP4 is expressed in normal physiological and pathological conditions, but astrocytic expression of AQP1 and AQP9 is mainly associated with a pathological state.

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          Most cited references119

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          New roles for astrocytes: redefining the functional architecture of the brain.

          Astrocytes have traditionally been considered ancillary, satellite cells of the nervous system. However, work over the past decade has revealed that they interact with the vasculature to form a gliovascular network that might organize not only the structural architecture of the brain but also its communication pathways, activation, thresholds and plasticity. The net effect is that astroglia demarcate gray matter regions, both cortical and subcortical, into functional compartments whose internal activation thresholds and external outputs are regulated by single glial cells. The array of these astrocyte-delimited microdomains along the capillary microvasculature allows the formation of higher-order gliovascular units, which serve to match local neural activity and blood flow while regulating neuronal firing thresholds through coordinative glial signaling. By these means, astrocytes might establish the functional as well as the structural architecture of the adult brain.
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            GLIA: listening and talking to the synapse.

            P G Haydon (2001)
            Glial cells are emerging from the background to become more prominent in our thinking about integration in the nervous system. Given that glial cells associated with synapses integrate neuronal inputs and can release transmitters that modulate synaptic activity, it is time to rethink our understanding of the wiring diagram of the nervous system. It is no longer appropriate to consider solely neuron-neuron connections; we also need to develop a view of the intricate web of active connections among glial cells, and between glia and neurons. Without such a view, it might be impossible to decode the language of the brain.
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              Glial cells in (patho)physiology.

              Neuroglial cells define brain homeostasis and mount defense against pathological insults. Astroglia regulate neurogenesis and development of brain circuits. In the adult brain, astrocytes enter into intimate dynamic relationship with neurons, especially at synaptic sites where they functionally form the tripartite synapse. At these sites, astrocytes regulate ion and neurotransmitter homeostasis, metabolically support neurons and monitor synaptic activity; one of the readouts of the latter manifests in astrocytic intracellular Ca(2+) signals. This form of astrocytic excitability can lead to release of chemical transmitters via Ca(2+) -dependent exocytosis. Once in the extracellular space, gliotransmitters can modulate synaptic plasticity and cause changes in behavior. Besides these physiological tasks, astrocytes are fundamental for progression and outcome of neurological diseases. In Alzheimer's disease, for example, astrocytes may contribute to the etiology of this disorder. Highly lethal glial-derived tumors use signaling trickery to coerce normal brain cells to assist tumor invasiveness. This review not only sheds new light on the brain operation in health and disease, but also points to many unknowns. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Neurochemistry © 2012 International Society for Neurochemistry.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Academic Editor
                Journal
                Int J Mol Sci
                Int J Mol Sci
                ijms
                International Journal of Molecular Sciences
                MDPI
                1422-0067
                13 July 2016
                July 2016
                : 17
                : 7
                : 1121
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology—Molecular Cell Physiology, Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Zaloška 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; maja.potokar@ 123456mf.uni-lj.si (M.P.); jernej.jorgacevski@ 123456mf.uni-lj.si (J.J.)
                [2 ]Celica Biomedical, Tehnološki Park 24, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence: robert.zorec@ 123456mf.uni-lj.si ; Tel.: +386-1543-7020; Fax: +386-1543-7036
                [†]

                These authors contributed equally to this work.

                Article
                ijms-17-01121
                10.3390/ijms17071121
                4964496
                27420057
                baabb7b1-980a-440d-8460-6c145cd0274e
                © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

                This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 26 May 2016
                : 07 July 2016
                Categories
                Review

                Molecular biology
                astrocyte,glia,aquaporin (aqp),aquaporin isoforms,orthogonal arrays of particles (oaps),brain edema

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