PMID: 26338868Sep 5, 2015Paper

Number and regulation of protozoan aquaporins reflect environmental complexity

The Biological Bulletin
Julia von Bülow, Eric Beitz

Abstract

Protozoa are a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotes. Evidence has accumulated that protozoan aquaporin water and solute channels (AQP) contribute to adaptation in changing environments. Intracellular protozoan parasites live a well-sheltered life. Plasmodium spp. express a single AQP, Toxoplasma gondii two, while Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishamnia spp. encode up to five AQPs. Their AQPs are thought to import metabolic precursors and simultaneously to dispose of waste and to help parasites survive osmotic stress during transmission to and from the insect vector or during kidney passages. Trypanosoma brucei is a protozoan parasite that swims freely in the human blood. Expression and intracellular localization of the three T. brucei AQPs depend on the stage of differentiation during the life cycle, suggesting distinct roles in energy generation, metabolism, and cell motility. Free-living amoebae are in direct contact with the environment, encountering severe and sudden changes in the availability of nutrition, and in the osmotic conditions due to rainfall or drought. Amoeba proteus expresses a single AQP that is present in the contractile vacuole complex required for osmoregulation, whereas Dictyostelium discoideum expresses four...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 24, 2017·Scientific Reports·Camilo Aponte-SantamaríaBert L de Groot
Nov 6, 2018·Current Protein & Peptide Science·João P Bezerra-NetoAna M Benko-Iseppon
Apr 3, 2021·Frontiers in Genetics·Abul Kalam AzadParveen Afroz Chowdhury
Feb 20, 2021·Parasitology·Juan F Quintana, Mark C Field

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