Oshio Kotaro, Watanabe Hiroyuke, Yan Donghong, Verkman A S, Manley Geoffrey T
Department of Neurosurgery, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006 Mar 24;341(4):1022-8. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2006.01.062. Epub 2006 Jan 25.
Aquaporin-1 (AQP1), a membrane water channel, is expressed in choroid plexus where it contributes to cerebrospinal fluid production. Here, we show that AQP1 is also expressed in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and the trigeminal nucleus caudalis, regions that process pain information. Within the dorsal root and trigeminal sensory ganglia, AQP1 is concentrated in small diameter cell bodies, most of which give rise to unmyelinated C-fibers. To study the role of AQP1 in pain signaling, we compared acute pain responses in wild-type mice and in mice lacking AQP1. AQP1(-/-) mice had reduced responsiveness to thermal and capsaicin chemical stimuli, but not to mechanical stimuli or formalin. These results provide evidence for AQP1 expression in nociceptive neurons and suggest that AQP1 may play a role in pain signal transduction.
水通道蛋白-1（AQP1）是一种膜水通道，在脉络丛中表达，对脑脊液的产生有作用。在此，我们表明AQP1也在脊髓背角和三叉神经尾核中表达，这些区域处理疼痛信息。在背根和三叉神经感觉神经节内，AQP1集中在小直径细胞体中，其中大多数产生无髓鞘的C纤维。为了研究AQP1在疼痛信号传导中的作用，我们比较了野生型小鼠和缺乏AQP1的小鼠的急性疼痛反应。AQP1基因敲除小鼠对热刺激和辣椒素化学刺激的反应性降低，但对机械刺激或福尔马林无反应。这些结果为伤害性神经元中AQP1的表达提供了证据，并表明AQP1可能在疼痛信号转导中起作用。
