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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Training Rats to Voluntarily Dive Underwater: Investigations of the Mammalian Diving Response
Published on: November 12, 2014
[The changes of water channel protein 1 in the lungs of the drown rat]
Hua-zi Hu1, Yang Chen, Jia-wen Wu
1Department of Pathology, West China School of Preclinical and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Objective:
To observe water channel 1 protein in the lungs of the drown rat.
Methods:
Immunohistochemical method and Colloidal gold of the electron microscopy were used to observe the location of aquaporin1(AQP1) on the rat lung tissue between the experiment group and control group.
Results:
The positive expression of AQP1 was seen in the capillary endotheliocyte of the interstitium and around bronchi and in the alveolar endothelial cells. The difference in the value of integrated optical density between the two groups was statistically significant. AQP1 was located in the type I alveolar cells, and the difference in the semi-quantity of Colloidal gold of the electron microscopy between the two groups was statistically significant as well.
Conclusion:
The above data suggest that AQP1 positive reaction is one of the sensitive signs of drowning and it is located in the type I alveolar cells.

