Aquaporins: another piece in the osmotic puzzle

KARINA ALLEVA; OSVALDO CHARA; GABRIELA AMODEO

FEBS LETTERS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 586 p. 2991 - 2999

0014-5793

Osmolarity not only plays a key role in cellular homeostasis but also challenges cell survival. The molecular understanding of osmosis had not been yet completely achieved and the discovery of the aquaporins as molecular entities involved in water transport are placing osmosis back to the center of the scene. The main questions claiming to be answered are the mechanism underlying the osmotic permeability coefficients and to what extent are aquaporins changing our concept of osmosis. Here, the attempts of answering to these questions are studied. Critical aspects of the state of the art of osmosis, a topic under construction since the XVII century are reviewed integrating them with the available information provided by in vivo, in vitro and in silico approaches.