Abstract:al-Syntrophin, a member of dystrophin-associated proteins, is expressed at the sarcolemma and at perivascular astrocytes, and participates in protein-protein interactions through its PDZ domain. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the predominant water channel protein in the brain, and also expressed at the sarcolemma of fast-twitch muscle fibers. AQP4 is concentrated in orthogonal array particles (OAPs), and its expression has been reported to be decreased at the sarcolemma of dystrophin-deficient mdx mice. We examined whether al-syntrophin targets AQP4 at the sarcolemma. Immunohistochemistry showed that AQP4 is absent at the sarcolemma in al-syntrophin knockout mice and that its expression is also lost from the perivascular astrocyte endfeet. On the other hand, expression of AQP4 is not decreased at the sarcolemma of the knockout mice in the neonatal stage. Moreover, AQP4 is expressed in lung, stomach, and kidney of wild-type and al-syntrophin null mice. Our results show that al-syntrophin is a key molecule to localize AQP4 to the sarcolemma of mature fast myofibers and astrocyte endfeet, but AQP4 is targeted to the plasma membrane by different molecules in lung, stomach, and kidney.

No abstract

The reduction in AQP4 in DMD muscles results from decreased levels of AQP4 mRNA in DMD myofibers.

We examined whether AQP7 molecules are expressed in the normal skeletal muscle at mRNA and protein levels. Gel electrophoresis of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) product of total RNA samples of normal human or mouse muscles by using oligonucleotide primers for human or mouse AQP7 showed a band of 328 or 369 basepairs, which corresponded to the basepair length between two primers of AQP7. The nucleotide sequence of these RT-PCR products coincided with those of human and mouse AQP7. Immunoblot, immunohistochemical and immunoelectron-microscopic studies of the protein were done by using the rabbit antibody against the synthetic peptide of the N-terminal cytoplasmic domain of the human AQP7 molecule. Immunoblot analysis showed that the rabbit antibody against human AQP7 reacted with a protein of approximately 30 kDa molecular weight in extracts of normal human and mouse skeletal muscles, and normal mouse liver. Immunohistochemistry with our anti-AQP7 antibody showed an immunoreaction at the myofiber surface of type 1 and type 2 fibers in human muscles and of type 2 fibers in mouse muscles.

No abstract