Lamagna Barbara, Ciaramella Paolo, Lamagna Francesco, Di Loria Antonio, Brunetti Arturo, Pelagalli Alessandra
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, 80137 Naples, Italy.
Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2020 May 9;10(5):820. doi: 10.3390/ani10050820.
Aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of thirteen membrane proteins that play an essential role in the transport of fluids across the cell plasma membrane. Recently, the expression of AQPs in different ocular tissues and their involvement in the pathophysiology of eye diseases, have garnered attention. Considering that literature on AQP expression in the lacrimal glands and their secretion is scarce, we aimed to characterise AQP1 expression in the tears of healthy dogs using two tear collection methods (Schirmer tear strips (STS) and ophthalmic sponges (OS)). Fifteen healthy dogs, free of ophthalmic diseases, were included in the study. Tear collection was performed by using STS in one eye and OS in the other. After the extraction of proteins from the tears, the expression of AQP1 was analysed by Western blotting. AQP1 was expressed as a band of 28 kDa. In addition, differences were observed in the expression of AQP1 and in the correlation between tear volume and protein concentration, in tears collected by the two different methods. Our results suggest that AQP1 has a specific role in tear secretion; further research is required to assess its particular role in the function of the ocular surface in eye physiology and pathology.
水通道蛋白（AQPs）是一个由13种膜蛋白组成的家族，在液体跨细胞质膜运输中发挥着重要作用。最近，AQPs在不同眼组织中的表达及其在眼部疾病病理生理学中的作用受到了关注。鉴于关于泪腺中AQP表达及其分泌的文献稀缺，我们旨在使用两种泪液采集方法（泪液试纸条（STS）和眼科海绵（OS））来表征健康犬泪液中AQP1的表达。15只无眼科疾病的健康犬被纳入研究。在一只眼睛使用STS，另一只眼睛使用OS进行泪液采集。从泪液中提取蛋白质后，通过蛋白质印迹法分析AQP1的表达。AQP1以一条28 kDa的条带形式表达。此外，在通过两种不同方法采集的泪液中，观察到AQP1的表达以及泪液体积与蛋白质浓度之间的相关性存在差异。我们的结果表明，AQP1在泪液分泌中具有特定作用；需要进一步研究以评估其在眼生理学和病理学中眼表功能的具体作用。
