pH Regulated Anion Permeability of Aquaporin-6

The kidney is a model organ for transport physiology (Nielsen 1996). AQPs are well-characterized in mammalian kidneys, where they facilitate transep-ithelial water reabsorption. Most renal AQPs are expressed either in proximal tubule cells or in collecting duct principal cells, which are known as sites for water reab-sorption. AQP1 is present in both apical and basolateral membranes of proximal tubules, and in descending limbs of Henle's loop where 70% of filtrated water is isoosmotically reabsorbed (King and Agre 1996). AQP2 is expressed in principal cells of the collecting duct; in response to vasopressin, AQP2 translocates from in-tracellular vesicles to the apical plasma membranes, thereby increasing water permeability to concentrate urine (Nielsen et al. 1993, 1995; Knepper 1997; Schrier 2006). AQP3 and AQP4 reside in the basolateral membranes of collecting duct principal cells, where they may provide the exit pathways for urine. AQP7, AQP8, and AQP11 are also present in the proximal tubules (Nielsen et al. 1998).

A rat cDNA clone encoding AQP6 was isolated by PCR-based homologous cloning from a rat kidney cDNA library (Ma et al. 1993; Yasui et al. 1999). AQP6 has high sequence homology to AQP0, AQP2, and AQP5. A human AQP6 was also cloned (Ma et al. 1996). Interestingly, the genes encoding AQP2, AQP5, and AQP6 are mapped to chromosome band 12q13 as a family gene cluster at this locus (Ma et al. 1997). Nevertheless, AQP6 is distinct from AQP0, AQP2, and AQP5 in terms of function. Among the renal aquaporins mentioned above, AQP6 has a unique distribution and a distinct function.