Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Aug 29;17(9):1399.
doi: 10.3390/ijms17091399.

Expression, Distribution and Role of Aquaporin Water Channels in Human and Animal Stomach and Intestines

Cui Zhu  1 , Zhuang Chen  2 , Zongyong Jiang  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Expression, Distribution and Role of Aquaporin Water Channels in Human and Animal Stomach and Intestines

Cui Zhu et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Stomach and intestines are involved in the secretion of gastrointestinal fluids and the absorption of nutrients and fluids, which ensure normal gut functions. Aquaporin water channels (AQPs) represent a major transcellular route for water transport in the gastrointestinal tract. Until now, at least 11 AQPs (AQP1-11) have been found to be present in the stomach, small and large intestines. These AQPs are distributed in different cell types in the stomach and intestines, including gastric epithelial cells, gastric glands cells, absorptive epithelial cells (enterocytes), goblet cells and Paneth cells. AQP1 is abundantly distributed in the endothelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract. AQP3 and AQP4 are mainly distributed in the basolateral membrane of epithelial cells in the stomach and intestines. AQP7, AQP8, AQP10 and AQP11 are distributed in the apical of enterocytes in the small and large intestines. Although AQP-null mice displayed almost no phenotypes in gastrointestinal tracts, the alterations of the expression and localization of these AQPs have been shown to be associated with the pathology of gastrointestinal disorders, which suggests that AQPs play important roles serving as potential therapeutic targets. Therefore, this review provides an overview of the expression, localization and distribution of AQPs in the stomach, small and large intestine of human and animals. Furthermore, this review emphasizes the potential roles of AQPs in the physiology and pathophysiology of stomach and intestines.

Keywords: aquaporin; cancer; distribution; expression; intestine; pathology; physiology; stomach.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ma T., Verkman A.S. Aquaporin water channels in gastrointestinal physiology. J. Physiol. 1999;517:317–326. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7793.1999.0317t.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tradtrantip L., Tajima M., Li L., Verkman A.S. Aquaporin water channels in transepithelial fluid transport. J. Med. Investig. 2009;56:179–184. doi: 10.2152/jmi.56.179. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Laforenza U. Water channel proteins in the gastrointestinal tract. Mol. Asp. Med. 2012;33:642–650. doi: 10.1016/j.mam.2012.03.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mollajew R., Zocher F., Horner A., Wiesner B., Klussmann E., Pohl P. Routes of epithelial water flow: Aquaporins versus cotransporters. Biophys. J. 2010;99:3647–3656. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.10.021. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wright E.M., Loo D.D. Coupling between Na+, sugar, and water transport across the intestine. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2000;915:54–66. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb05223.x. - DOI - PubMed