Aquaporins in human breast cancer: identification and involvement in carcinogenesis of breast cancer.

Aquaporins (AQPs) play important roles in water and glycerol transport. Recently, the role of AQPs in human carcinogenesis has become an area of great interest. However, little is known about the function of AQPs in human breast cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression profile of AQPs in human breast cancer and its significance. In this study, we screened the expression profile of AQP0-12 in breast cancer tissues and corresponding normal tissues by RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. AQP1, 3-5, and 10-12 were expressed in human breast cancer and/or normal breast tissues, and AQP1 and 3-5 exhibited differential expression. AQP1 was expressed in cell membranes and its expression was higher in cancer than that in normal tissues. AQP4 was expressed in the cell membrane and cytoplasm and was detected markedly stronger in normal than in cancer tissues. AQP5 was expressed mainly in cell membranes in carcinoma tissues, but was almost absent in normal breast tissues. Expression of AQP5 was associated with cellular differentiation, lymph node invasion, and clinicopathological staging. These observations suggested that several subtypes of the AQP family play a role in human breast carcinogenesis.

Shi Z ，Zhang T ，Luo L ，Zhao H ，Cheng J ，Xiang J ，Zhao C ... -  《-》

Expression profile of multiple aquaporins in human gastric carcinoma and its clinical significance.

New evidence for involvement of aquaporins (AQPs) in cell migration and proliferation adds AQPs to an expanding list of effectors in tumor biology. But there is few report concerning the expression and role of AQPs in human gastric carcinogenesis so far. The aim of this current study was to investigate the expression profile of AQPs in human gastric carcinoma and its significance. We screened the expression profile of AQP0 approximately AQP12 in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and corresponding normal mucosa from 89 patients with gastric cancer by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot analysis and immunochemical assay. The relationship between AQPs expression and clinicopathologic characteristics of patients was evaluated. Based on RT-PCR of 13 AQPs examined, AQP1, 3, 4, 5 and 11 were expressed in human gastric cancers or normal gastric tissues, and AQP3, 4 and 5 exhibited differential expression between human gastric carcinomas and corresponding normal tissues, which was confirmed by Western blot analyses. Immunohistochemical assay showed that AQP4 protein was expressed mainly in the membrane of parietal cell and chief cell in the normal gastric mucosa, and absent in carcinoma tissues. AQP3 and AQP5 were detected remarkably stronger in the carcinoma tissues than that in normal mucosa by immunofluorescence. AQP3 expression in cases with undifferentiated tumor was more than that in cases with well-differentiated tumor. Both AQP3 and AQP5 expression were associated with lymph node metastasis and lymphovascular invasion in patients. These findings of differential expressions of AQPs and their correlation with clinicopathologic characteristics implicated AQPs might play a role in human gastric carcinogenesis.

Shen L ，Zhu Z ，Huang Y ，Shu Y ，Sun M ，Xu H ，Zhang G ，Guo R ，Wei W ，Wu W ... -  《-》

Aquaporin expression in developing human teeth and selected orofacial tissues.

Wang W ，Hart PS ，Piesco NP ，Lu X ，Gorry MC ，Hart TC ... -  《CALCIFIED TISSUE INTERNATIONAL》

Involvement of aquaporins in colorectal carcinogenesis.

Moon C ，Soria JC ，Jang SJ ，Lee J ，Obaidul Hoque M ，Sibony M ，Trink B ，Chang YS ，Sidransky D ，Mao L ... -  《ONCOGENE》

Aquaporin 1 and aquaporin 4 are involved in invasion of lung cancer cells.

Xie Y ，Wen X ，Jiang Z ，Fu HQ ，Han H ，Dai L ... -  《-》