Abstract
Recent research in the aquaporin (AQP) field has identified a role for diverse AQPs in extracellular vesicles (EV). Though still in its infancy, there is a growing body of knowledge in the area; AQPs in EV have been suggested as biomarkers for disease, as drug targets and show potential as therapeutics. To advance further in this field, AQPs in EV must be better understood. Here we summarize current knowledge of the presence and function of AQPs in EV and hypothesise their roles in health and disease.
Highlights
Extracellular vesicles (EV) are naturally occurring nano or micro sized particles (Wolf, 1967) released by cells into their extracellular environment (Trams, Lauter, Salem, & Heine, 1981) extracellular vesicles (EV) are representative of the properties and state of their donor cell, from which they are derived, carrying cell cargo such as functional nucleic acids, proteins, and lipid-based components (Van der Pol, Böing, Harrison, Sturk, & Nieuwland, 2012) & (Yáñez-Mó, et al, 2015)
Whilst EV may be implicated in waste disposal, it is thought that they play a major and expanding role in cell communication, carrying information about the health or otherwise of the donor cell from which they are released; as such EV have been identified as biomarkers for disease
The family’s signature NPA motif defines their selectivity to water and variations in this domain give rise to differential permeability profiles and subclasses of AQPs (Kitchen, et al, 2015) Orthodox AQPs (0,1,2,4,5,6 and 10) are permeable to water, aquaglyceroporins (AQPs 3, 7 and 9) are permeable to glycerol, urea and some other solutes, while super or unorthodox aquaporins (AQPs 11 and 12) are the most recently and incompletely defined family members (AQP8 is an ammonia- permeable AQP related to the orthodox sub-group (Kitchen, et al, 2015))
Summary
Received date: Revised date: Accepted date: 11 August 2021 November 2021 November 2021 This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Keywords Aquaporin, water channel, extracellular vesicle, exosome, microvesicle, signalling, oedema, inflammation
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