Table 1.
The table summarizes the aquaporins non-controversial information. Classical aquaporins transport mainly water, but some of them also ammonia. Aquaglyceroporins transport a higher variety of solutes. Selectivity of superaquaporins is still under research, yet AQP11 was proven to transport hydrogen peroxide. AQPs tissue localization is heterogeneous and they cover most of the tissues in the human body. Subcellular localization of aquaporins is still object of debate. Most of them are located in the plasma membrane, but AQPs can be found on the membranes of different intracellular compartments. The data regarding transported solutes are mainly taken from the book chapter by Medrano et al. [8,10], the data on the tissue and intracellular localization are taken from “The Human Protein Atlas” database [33].
| Transported solutes | Tissue Localization | Subcellular Localization | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquaporins | AQP0 | H2O | Eye | Plasma Membrane, Endoplasmic reticulum |
| AQP1 | H2O, Ammonia | Brain, Lung, Gastrointestinal tract, Liver & gallbladder, Pancreas, Kidney & urinary bladder, Female reproductive tissues, Skin, Bone marrow & lymphoid tissues | Plasma Membrane, Extracellular exosome, Nucleus | |
| AQP2 | H2O | Kidney & urinary bladder, Male reproductive tissues | Plasma Membrane, Extracellular exsome, Golgi apparatus | |
| AQP4 | H2O, Ammonia | Brain, Endocrine tissues, Lung, Gastrointestinal tract, | Plasma membrane, Extracellular exosome, Endosome | |
| AQP5 | H2O | Lung, Proximal digestive tract, Gastrointestinal tract, Male and female reproductive tissues, Pancreas | Plasma membrane, Extracellular exosome | |
| Aquaglyceroporins | AQP3 | Glycerol, Urea, Ammonia, Hydrogen peroxide | Lung, Proximal digestive tract, Gastrointestinal tract, Kidney & urinary bladder, Male and female reproductive tissues, Skin, Bone marrow & lymphoid tissues | Plasma membrane, Nucleus |
| AQP6 | Urea, Glycerol, Anions, Nitrate/Halide Ions, Ammonia | Kidney & urinary bladder | Plasma membrane | |
| AQP7 | Glycerol, Urea, Ammonia, Arsenite | Adipose & soft tissues, Female reproductive tissues, Muscle tissues, Endocrine tissues | Plasma membrane | |
| AQP8 | Ammonia, Hydrogen peroxide | Gastrointestinal tract, Pancreas | Plasma membrane, endoplasmic reticulum | |
| AQP9 | Glycerol, Urea, Small non-charged solutes, Hydrogen peroxide, Arsenite, Monocarboxylates, Ammonia | Liver & gallbladder, Bone marrow & lymphoid tissues | Plasma membrane | |
| AQP10 | Glycerol | Gastrointestinal tract | Plasma membrane | |
| SuperAQPs | AQP11 | Glycerol, Hydrogen peroxide | Gastrointestinal tract, Endocrine tissue, Liver & gallbladder | Endoplasmic reticulum |
| AQP12 A/B | – | Pancreas, Male reproductive tissues | Plasma membrane | |