著者

Masato Yasui

出版者

The Japanese Pharmacological Society

雑誌

Journal of Pharmacological Sciences (ISSN:13478613)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.96, no.3, pp.260-263, 2004 (Released:2004-11-20)

参考文献数

22

被引用文献数

28 36

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The discovery of the water channel aquaporin has greatly expanded our understanding of the regulation of the water permeability of biological membranes. The atomic structure of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) demonstrated how aquaporin is freely permeated by water but not protons and provided marked insight into several human disorders. Eleven mammalian aquaporins have been identified, each with a distinct distribution, and these are selectively permeated by water or water plus glycerol. Aquaporins are suspected in numerous pathological conditions involving fluid transport such as brain edema. Knowledge of aquaporin structure may provide insight into the development of new therapeutics through appropriate drug design.