Brain water mobility decreases after astrocytic aquaporin-4 inhibition using RNA interference.

ABSTRACT: Neuroimaging with diffusion-weighted imaging is routinely used for clinical diagnosis/prognosis. Its quantitative parameter, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), is thought to reflect water mobility in brain tissues. After injury, reduced ADC values are thought to be secondary to decreases in the extracellular space caused by cell swelling. However, the physiological mechanisms associated with such changes remain uncertain. Aquaporins (AQPs) facilitate water diffusion through the plasma membrane and provide a unique opportunity to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying water mobility. Because of this critical role and the recognition that brain AQP4 is distributed within astrocytic cell membranes, we hypothesized that AQP4 contributes to the regulation of water diffusion and vari

SUBMITTER: Badaut J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3063618 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature