Aquaporins in the hepatobiliary system

✍ Scribed by Anatoliy I. Masyuk; Nicholas F. LaRusso

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 478 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.20996

✦ Synopsis

The review focuses on the potential physiological and pathophysiological roles of aquaporins (AQPs), a family of water channel proteins, in the hepatobiliary system. Among 13 aquaporins (AQP0-AQP12) cloned in mammals, seven AQPs have been identified in the liver and biliary tree. Accumulating evidence suggests that AQPs are likely involved in canalicular and ductal bile secretion, gluconeogenesis and microbial infection and may have other novel roles that affect liver function.