Altered gravity downregulates aquaporin-1 protein expression in choroid plexus

Aquaporin-1 (AQP1) is a water channel expressed abundantly at the apical pole of choroidal epithelial cells. The protein expression was quantified by immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy in adult rats adapted to altered gravity. AQP1 expression was decreased by 64% at the apical pole of choroidal cells in rats dissected 5.5-8 h after a 14-day spaceflight. AQP1 was significantly overexpressed in rats readapted for 2 days to Earth's gravity after an 11-day flight (48% overshoot, when compared with the value measured in control rats). In a ground-based model that simulates some effects of weightlessness and alters choroidal structures and functions, apical AQP1 expression was reduced by 44% in choroid plexus from rats suspended head down for 14 days and by 69% in rats suspended for 28 days. Apical AQP1 was rapidly enhanced in choroid plexus of rats dissected 6 h after a 14-day suspension (57% overshoot, in comparison with control rats) and restored to the control level when rats were dissected 2 days after the end of a 14-day suspension. Decreases in the apical expression of choroidal AQP1 were also noted in rats adapted to hypergravity in the NASA 24-ft centrifuge: AQP1 expression was reduced by 47% and 85% in rats adapted for 14 days to 2 G and 3 G, respectively. AQP1 is downregulated in the apical membrane of choroidal cells in response to altered gravity and is rapidly restored after readaptation to normal gravity. This suggests that water transport, which is partly involved in the choroidal production of cerebrospinal fluid, might be decreased during spaceflight and after chronic hypergravity.