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. 2023 Jul 17;15(4):497–513. doi: 10.1007/s12551-023-01098-x

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

AQPs play important physiological functions in processes where cell mechanics are compromised. a AQPs expressed in vascular endothelial cells are exposed to mechanical forces exerted by the laminar shear stress due to blood flow. Arrows indicated by P and v indicate blood pressure and velocity, respectively. Red blood cells are represented by ovoidal forms. For simplicity, AQPs are represented only in endothelial cells. b Muscle cells can exert active contraction, modifying the mechanical strain and the mechanical context of membrane proteins such as AQPs. Sarcomeres are schematically represented. c Migrating cells generate traction forces, in a process that impacts on focal adhesion (FA) dynamics and that is dependent on the AQPs function. Microtubules, cortical cytoskeleton, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) are schematically represented. Water flux through AQPs is indicated by arrows. All drawings are original and were created by the authors by using Inkscape 1.2.2 free software