Ortak Huseyin, Cayli Sevil, Ocakli Seda, Demir Selim
Departments of *Ophthalmology and †Histology and Embryology, Gaziosmanpasa University Faculty of Medicine, 60150 Tokat, Turkey.
Cornea. 2013 Oct;32(10):1375-9. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e31829b6d2a.
Recent studies have shown that aquaporins (AQPs) play an important role in proliferating tumor microvessels and angiogenesis. In this study, the authors investigated the expression of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) and aquaporin-3 (AQP3) in pterygial and normal conjunctival tissues.
Fifteen patients with pterygium were enrolled in the study. Pterygium was excised, and a conjunctival rotational flap or autograft was inserted. Normal conjunctival tissue was obtained from the flap or graft. Western blot analysis was performed to assess the expression of AQP1 and AQP3 in pterygial and normal conjunctival tissues. Tissue localization of AQP1 and AQP3 was determined by immunohistochemical analysis.
AQP1 and AQP3 are localized in the epithelial and subepithelial regions in pterygial and normal conjunctival tissues. Protein expression of both AQP1 and AQP3 was elevated in pterygia when compared with conjunctival tissues. The significant increase in protein expression of AQP1 was 3-fold in pterygium over normal conjunctiva (P = 0.004) and 2-fold increase in AQP3 expression of pterygium was detected (P = 0.02) according to densitometric analysis.
Elevated protein expression of AQP1 and AQP3 was observed in pterygial tissues when compared with normal conjunctiva. The data suggest that the increased expression of AQP1 and AQP3 in pterygial tissues may be involved in the pathogenesis of pterygia, and therefore, AQP1 and AQP3 are potential therapeutic targets for preventing or delaying the progression of the disease.
近期研究表明水通道蛋白（AQPs）在肿瘤微血管增殖和血管生成中起重要作用。在本研究中，作者调查了水通道蛋白-1（AQP1）和水通道蛋白-3（AQP3）在翼状胬肉组织和正常结膜组织中的表达情况。
15例翼状胬肉患者纳入本研究。切除翼状胬肉，并植入结膜旋转瓣或自体移植片。从瓣或移植片中获取正常结膜组织。采用蛋白质印迹分析评估AQP1和AQP3在翼状胬肉组织和正常结膜组织中的表达。通过免疫组织化学分析确定AQP1和AQP3的组织定位。
AQP1和AQP3定位于翼状胬肉组织和正常结膜组织的上皮及上皮下区域。与结膜组织相比，翼状胬肉中AQP1和AQP3的蛋白表达均升高。根据光密度分析，翼状胬肉中AQP1蛋白表达比正常结膜显著增加3倍（P = 0.004），AQP3表达增加2倍（P = 0.02）。
与正常结膜相比，翼状胬肉组织中AQP1和AQP3的蛋白表达升高。数据表明，翼状胬肉组织中AQP1和AQP3表达增加可能参与了翼状胬肉的发病机制，因此，AQP1和AQP3是预防或延缓疾病进展的潜在治疗靶点。
