Aquaporins represent a primordial group of transmembrane solvent channels that have been documented throughout the living biota. This facet alone emphasizes the positive selection pressure for proteins associated with intracellular fluid homeostasis. Amongst extant Eukaryota the highest gene copy number can be found in plants and teleosts, a feature that reflects the genomic duplication history...

Abstract Sorghum is highly tolerant to alkaline stress, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here, based on genotypic difference in tolerance of sorghum, it was found that AT1 (Alkaline 1) encoding a G protein involved through negatively modulating phosphorylation level PIP2, an aquaporin with transport activity for H 2 O . Knockout releases its inhibition thereby resulting in...

The topic of my talk, the aquaporins, is something that we have been studying in our lab for the last 15 years. It is not something that I anticipated when starting my career. In fact, I am a hematologist, but in science, sometimes what we find is not what we are looking for. A typical middle-aged man, I weigh 75 kg, of which 50 are water. This is something that we all share. Water is the major...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and a related spectrum of inflammatory CNS disorders are unified by detection of a serum autoantibody specific for the aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel, which is abundant in astrocytic foot processes. The classic clinical manifestations of NMO are optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. Newly recognized manifestations of AQP4 autoimmunity incl...

With the aim of identifying possible gene targets for direct or indirect regulation by vasopressin in the renal medulla, we have carried out cDNA array experiments in inner medullas of Brattleboro rats infused with the V(2) receptor-selective vasopressin analog desamino-Cys1,d-Arg8 vasopressin (dDAVP) for 72 h. Of the 1,176 genes on the array, 137 transcripts were increased by 2-fold or more, a...