Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The 118th Hospital of PLA, Wenzhou 325000, China.
Physiol Behav. 2011 Oct 24;104(5):749-53. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.07.031. Epub 2011 Aug 4.
Inner ear is critical for the development of motion sickness (MS). The present work was designed to test the role of aquaporins (AQPs) in inner ear in MS. After repetitive stimulus of rotation, the MS symptom was steadily alleviated in mice. After repetitive stimulus of rotation, several AQPs mRNA levels including AQP1, AQP2, AQP3, AQP4, AQP6, AQP7, and AQP9 in the inner ears of mice were analyzed. It was found that AQP1 mRNA level was increased remarkably, which was reconfirmed by Western blotting analysis. In addition, the relationship between AQP1 expression and MS sensitivity was studied and it was shown that AQP1 mRNA level was negatively related to MS index in mice. We sought to examine the function of AQP1 in inner ear using an RNAi approach to reduce the AQP1 protein expression in vivo. It was first observed that AQP1 knockdown in inner ear resulted in a significant increase of MS sensitivity in mice. In conclusion, after repetitive stimulus of rotation, the alleviation of MS symptom in mice was, at least in part, due to the upregulation of AQP1 expression in inner ear. In addition, the sensitivity to MS in mice was, at least in part, dependent on the expression of AQP1 in inner ear. AQP1 in inner ear plays an important role in the development of MS, and might be a potential target for the prevention or management of MS.
内耳对于运动病（MS）的发展至关重要。本研究旨在检测在内耳中水通道蛋白（AQPs）在 MS 中的作用。在旋转的重复刺激后，小鼠的 MS 症状得到了稳定缓解。在旋转的重复刺激后，分析了小鼠内耳中包括 AQP1、AQP2、AQP3、AQP4、AQP6、AQP7 和 AQP9 在内的几种 AQP mRNA 水平。发现 AQP1 mRNA 水平显著增加，Western 印迹分析也证实了这一点。此外，还研究了 AQP1 表达与 MS 敏感性之间的关系，结果表明 AQP1 mRNA 水平与小鼠 MS 指数呈负相关。我们试图通过 RNAi 方法来减少体内 AQP1 蛋白的表达，从而研究 AQP1 在内耳中的功能。首先观察到内耳中 AQP1 的敲低导致小鼠 MS 敏感性显著增加。总之，在旋转的重复刺激后，小鼠 MS 症状的缓解至少部分归因于内耳中 AQP1 表达的上调。此外，小鼠对 MS 的敏感性至少部分取决于内耳中 AQP1 的表达。内耳中的 AQP1 在 MS 的发展中起重要作用，可能是预防或管理 MS 的潜在靶点。
