Aquaporins Involvement in Pancreas Physiology and in Pancreatic Diseases

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Aquaporins are a family of transmembrane proteins permeable to water. In mammals, they are subdivided into classical aquaporins that are permeable to water; aquaglyceroporins that are permeable to water, glycerol and urea; peroxiporins that facilitate the diffusion of H ₂O ₂ through cell membranes; and so called unorthodox aquaporins. Aquaporins ensure important physiological functions in both exocrine and endocrine pancreas. Indeed, they are involved in pancreatic fluid secretion and insulin secretion. Modification of aquaporin expression and/or subcellular localization may be involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic insufficiencies, diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Aquaporins may represent useful drug targets for the treatment of pathophysiological conditions affecting pancreatic function, and/or diagnostic/predictive biomarker for pancreatic cancer. This review summarizes the current knowledge related to the involvement of aquaporins in the pancreas physiology and physiopathology.

Related collections

Most cited references 117

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Specific aquaporins facilitate the diffusion of hydrogen peroxide across membranes.

Gerd Bienert, Anders L B Møller, Kim A Kristiansen … (2007)

The metabolism of aerobic organisms continuously produces reactive oxygen species. Although potentially toxic, these compounds also function in signaling. One important feature of signaling compounds is their ability to move between different compartments, e.g. to cross membranes. Here we present evidence that aquaporins can channel hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Twenty-four aquaporins from plants and mammals were screened in five yeast strains differing in sensitivity toward oxidative stress. Expression of human AQP8 and plant Arabidopsis TIP1;1 and TIP1;2 in yeast decreased growth and survival in the presence of H2O2. Further evidence for aquaporin-mediated H2O2 diffusion was obtained by a fluorescence assay with intact yeast cells using an intracellular reactive oxygen species-sensitive fluorescent dye. Application of silver ions (Ag+), which block aquaporin-mediated water diffusion in a fast kinetics swelling assay, also reversed both the aquaporin-dependent growth repression and the H2O2-induced fluorescence. Our results present the first molecular genetic evidence for the diffusion of H2O2 through specific members of the aquaporin family.

0 comments Cited 378 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Role of CFTR in epithelial physiology

Vinciane Saint-Criq, Michael Gray (2016)

Salt and fluid absorption and secretion are two processes that are fundamental to epithelial function and whole body fluid homeostasis, and as such are tightly regulated in epithelial tissues. The CFTR anion channel plays a major role in regulating both secretion and absorption in a diverse range of epithelial tissues, including the airways, the GI and reproductive tracts, sweat and salivary glands. It is not surprising then that defects in CFTR function are linked to disease, including life-threatening secretory diarrhoeas, such as cholera, as well as the inherited disease, cystic fibrosis (CF), one of the most common life-limiting genetic diseases in Caucasian populations. More recently, CFTR dysfunction has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the hyper-responsiveness in asthma, underscoring its fundamental role in whole body health and disease. CFTR regulates many mechanisms in epithelial physiology, such as maintaining epithelial surface hydration and regulating luminal pH. Indeed, recent studies have identified luminal pH as an important arbiter of epithelial barrier function and innate defence, particularly in the airways and GI tract. In this chapter, we will illustrate the different operational roles of CFTR in epithelial function by describing its characteristics in three different tissues: the airways, the pancreas, and the sweat gland.

0 comments Cited 145 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Aquaporins--new players in cancer biology.

A. S. Verkman, Mariko Hara-Chikuma, Marios Papadopoulos (2008)

The aquaporins (AQPs) are small, integral-membrane proteins that selectively transport water across cell plasma membranes. A subset of AQPs, the aquaglyceroporins, also transport glycerol. AQPs are strongly expressed in tumor cells of different origins, particularly aggressive tumors. Recent discoveries of AQP involvement in cell migration and proliferation suggest that AQPs play key roles in tumor biology. AQP1 is ubiquitously expressed in tumor vascular endothelium, and AQP1-null mice show defective tumor angiogenesis resulting from impaired endothelial cell migration. AQP-expressing cancer cells show enhanced migration in vitro and greater local tumor invasion, tumor cell extravasation, and metastases in vivo. AQP-dependent cell migration may involve AQP-facilitated water influx into lamellipodia at the front edge of migrating cells. The aquaglyceroporin AQP3, which is found in normal epidermis and becomes upregulated in basal cell carcinoma, facilitates cell proliferation in different cell types. Remarkably, AQP3-null mice are resistant to skin tumorigenesis by a mechanism that may involve reduced tumor cell glycerol metabolism and ATP generation. Together, the data suggest that AQP expression in tumor cells and tumor vessels facilitates tumor growth and spread, suggesting AQP inhibition as a novel antitumor therapy.

0 comments Cited 109 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Mol Sci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Mol Sci

Journal ID (publisher-id): ijms

Title: International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 1422-0067

Publication date (Electronic): 11 October 2019

Publication date Collection: October 2019

Volume: 20

Issue: 20

Electronic Location Identifier: 5052

Affiliations

[1 ]Laboratory of Experimental Gastroenterology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1070 Brussels, Belgium; Tatjana.Arsenijevic@ 123456erasme.ulb.ac.be (T.A.); jl.vanlaethem@ 123456erasme.ulb.ac.be (J.-L.V.L.)

[2 ]Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Digestive Oncology, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 808, Route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgium

[3 ]Laboratory of Pathophysiological and Nutritional Biochemistry, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1070 Brussels, Belgium; jason.perret@ 123456ulb.ac.be

Author notes

[* ]Correspondence: cdelport@ 123456ulb.ac.be ; Tel.: +32-2-555-6210

Author information

Christine Delporte https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0385-5824

Article

Publisher ID: ijms-20-05052

DOI: 10.3390/ijms20205052

PMC ID: 6834120

PubMed ID: 31614661

SO-VID: c2ba5696-916a-44d4-8d94-663074f541d8

License:

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/).

Aquaporins Involvement in Pancreas Physiology and in Pancreatic Diseases

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Genes & Diseases

Most cited references 117

Specific aquaporins facilitate the diffusion of hydrogen peroxide across membranes.

Role of CFTR in epithelial physiology

Aquaporins--new players in cancer biology.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Author information

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 885

Cited by 11

Most referenced authors 1,189