Anti-Aquaporin 4 Antibody, CT

Water is a critical component of all living cells. Interestingly, tissue membranes show a great degree of water permeability. Mammalian red cells, renal proximal tubules, and descending thin limb of Henle are extraordinarily permeable to water. Water crosses hydrophobic plasma membranes either by simple diffusion or through a facilitative transport mechanism mediated by special proteins "aquaporins". Aquaporins, are integral membrane proteins from a larger family of major intrinsic proteins (MIP) that form pores in the membrane of biological cells. Over the last decade, genes for several members of aquaporin family have been cloned, expressed, and their distribution studied in many tissues. The water-specific channel Aquaporin 4 is located in various tissues including the gastrointestinal tract, kidney and brain. It is an osmoreceptor which regulates body water balance and mediates water flow within the central nervous system. In CNS tissue, AQP4 localizes to astrocyte endfeet making it a useful structural marker.