Abstract：
The expression of various isoforms of aquaporins (AQPs) in different tissues and organs of the body makes it a viable candidate for being responsible for maintaining cell stability and integrity as their involvement has been well documented in a number of pathophysiological conditions of the human body. Any alteration in the cellular environment brought about by these AQPs creates severe downstream effects like changes in cellular osmolality, volume, ionic composition, signaling pathways and even in the levels of intracellular second messengers and, as such, facilitates the occurrence of diseases like cancer. The altered equilibrium of water, extracellular ions and amino acid neurotransmitters caused by neuronal destruction and oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases proposed the role of these AQPs in these diseased conditions as well. The association of AQPs in a variety of inflammatory processes like lung injury, brain edema, neuromyelitis optica, and colitis as manifested through their dysregulation both in animal and human diseases is truly an eye opener for their role in protection and reaction to various noxious stimuli including bacterial infection. Renal diseases like nephrogenic diabetes inspidus, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and acute kidney injury are some of the pathophysiological conditions related to malfunctioning of aquaporins. Besides, the malfunctioning of aquaglyceroporins like AQP7 and AQP9 makes them responsible for disorders like obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. In this review article, we present our current understanding of the role of AQPs in the causation of these metabolic disorders and how targeting them holds promising therapeutic potential for most of these diseases like cancer, renal diseases and even cardiovascular disorders.
摘要：
水通道蛋白（AQP）的各种同种型在人体不同组织和器官中的表达使其成为负责维持细胞稳定性和完整性的可行候选者，因为它们的参与已在许多病理生理条件下得到充分证明。由这些AQP引起的细胞环境的任何改变都会产生严重的下游效应，例如细胞渗透压的变化，volume,离子组成，信号通路，甚至在细胞内第二信使的水平，因此，促进癌症等疾病的发生。水的平衡改变了，神经退行性疾病中神经元破坏和氧化应激引起的细胞外离子和氨基酸神经递质也提出了这些AQP在这些疾病中的作用。AQPs在多种炎症过程如肺损伤中的关联，脑水肿,视神经脊髓炎,通过它们在动物和人类疾病中的失调表现出的结肠炎确实是它们在保护和对包括细菌感染在内的各种有害刺激的反应中的作用的开眼界。肾脏疾病，如肾源性糖尿病，常染色体显性多囊肾病和急性肾损伤是与水通道蛋白功能失调有关的一些病理生理条件。此外,AQP7和AQP9等水甘油孔素的功能异常使它们成为肥胖等疾病的原因，非酒精性脂肪性肝病和非酒精性脂肪性肝炎。在这篇评论文章中，我们介绍了我们目前对AQP在这些代谢紊乱的原因中的作用的理解，以及如何靶向它们对大多数这些疾病如癌症具有有希望的治疗潜力。肾脏疾病甚至心血管疾病。
