title: Aquaporins as diagnostic and therapeutic targets in cancer: how far we are?
abstract: Aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of water channel proteins distributed in various human tissues, responsible for the transport of small solutes such as glycerol, even gas and ions. The expression of AQPs has been found in more than 20 human cancer types and is significantly correlated with the severity of histological tumors and prognosis of patients with cancer. More recent evidence showed that AQPs could also play a role in tumor-associated edema, tumor cell proliferation and migration, and tumor angiogenesis in solid and hematological tumors. Inhibitors of AQPs in tumor cells and microvessels have been suggested as new therapeutic strategies. The present review overviews AQPs structures, expression variation among normal tissues and tumors, AQPs functions and roles in the development of cancer with special focuses on lung, colorectal, liver, brain and breast cancers, and potential AQPs-target inhibitors. We call the special attention to consider AQPs important as diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers. It may be a novel anticancer therapy by the AQPs inhibition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 251328610@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Minghang Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. fengweihong66666@sina.cn.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: The First Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jingzhou, China. zhuzhitu@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhitu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. minghuan_zheng@qq.com.
authors.forename: Minghuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. wang_rei@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. chen.zhihong@zs-hospital.sh.cn.
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The First Hospital of Liaoning Medical University, Jingzhou, China. cmushz@163.com.
authors.forename: Hongzhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020346:Aquaporins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020346:Aquaporins