title: Effect of water deprivation on aquaporin 4 (AQP4) mRNA expression in chickens (Gallus domesticus).
abstract: Aquaporin (AQP) 4 is a member of the AQP gene family of water-selective transport proteins. We studied the effect of water deprivation on AQP4 gene expression in chickens. The nucleotide sequence of a chicken aquaporin 4 (AQP4) cDNA that encodes a protein of 335 amino acids showed high homology to mammalian AQP4. Using Northern blotting analysis, AQP4 mRNA in chickens was observed as a band of approximately 5.5 kb in several tissues in addition to the hypothalamus, proventriculus, kidney, and breast muscle. Quantitative analysis by real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that the mRNA expression of AQP4 in the hypothalamus significantly increased after dehydration. On the other hand, the mRNA expression of AQP4 in the kidney significantly decreased after dehydration. This suggests that AQP4 may play a pivotal role in osmoregulation in the chicken brain.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. nsaito@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Hidehiro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimada
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051401:Aquaporin 4 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003370:Coturnix / Q000235:genetics; D003681:Dehydration / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014868:Water Deprivation
chemical_list: D051401:Aquaporin 4; D012333:RNA, Messenger