Aquaporins and Their Regulation after Spinal Cord Injury

Andrea M Halsey; Alex C Conner; Roslyn M Bill; Ann Logan; Zubair Ahmed

doi:10.3390/cells7100174

Aquaporins and Their Regulation after Spinal Cord Injury

Cells. 2018 Oct 18;7(10):174. doi: 10.3390/cells7100174.

Authors

Andrea M Halsey¹, Alex C Conner², Roslyn M Bill³, Ann Logan⁴, Zubair Ahmed⁵

Affiliations

¹ Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. amh776@student.bham.ac.uk.
² Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. a.c.conner@bham.ac.uk.
³ School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK. r.m.bill@aston.ac.uk.
⁴ Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. a.logan@bham.ac.uk.
⁵ Neuroscience and Ophthalmology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. z.ahmed.1@bham.ac.uk.

Abstract

After injury to the spinal cord, edema contributes to the underlying detrimental pathophysiological outcomes that lead to worsening of function. Several related membrane proteins called aquaporins (AQPs) regulate water movement in fluid transporting tissues including the spinal cord. Within the cord, AQP1, 4 and 9 contribute to spinal cord injury (SCI)-induced edema. AQP1, 4 and 9 are expressed in a variety of cells including astrocytes, neurons, ependymal cells, and endothelial cells. This review discusses some of the recent findings of the involvement of AQP in SCI and highlights the need for further study of these proteins to develop effective therapies to counteract the negative effects of SCI-induced edema.

Keywords: aquaporin; edema; spinal cord injury; water channel.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding