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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Culturing Primary Rat Inner Medullary Collecting Duct Cells
Published on: June 21, 2013
Discovery of the aquaporins and development of the field
Jennifer M Carbrey1, Peter Agre
1Department of Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine, DUMC Box 102143, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Abstract:
The study of water transport began long before the molecular identification of water channels with studies of water-permeable tissues. The discovery of the first aquaporin, AQP1, occurred during experiments focused on the identity of the Rh blood group antigens. Since then the field has expanded dramatically to study aquaporins in all types of organisms. In mammals, some of the aquaporins transport only water. However, there are some family members that collectively transport a diverse set of solutes. The aquaporins can be regulated by factors that affect channel permeability or subcellular localization. An extensive set of studies examines the physiological role of many of the mammalian aquaporins. However, much is still to be discovered about the physiological role of this membrane protein family.
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