[Research advances on aquaporins and vascular function regulation and related diseases].

Aquaporins (AQPs), mainly distributed in epithelial and endothelial cells, are a family of channel-forming membrane proteins, originally confirmed to mediate the cellular water-transportation. AQPs are essential for maintaining homeostasis of the body water. Recently, studies have shown that AQPs may be involved in vascular function regulation and the development of related diseases, especially in cerebral ischemia, congestion heart failure, hypertension and tumor angiogenesis. Therefore, further studies are needed to elucidate mechanism accounting for the association between AQPs and vascular function related diseases, which may lead to novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of these diseases. In this review, we will discuss the expression and physiological roles of AQPs in vascular tissues and summarize recent progress in the relationship between AQPs and vascular function related diseases.