Aquaporins in Health and Disease New Molecular Targets for Drug Discovery

Preface
Søren Nielsen and Peter Agre

MECHANISMS OF FLUID TRANSPORT IN CELLS AND EPITHELIA
Aquaporin Functional Detection: Basic Concepts on Water and Solute Permeation
Ana Madeira, Teresa F. Moura, and Graça Soveral
Aquaporin Discovery in the Genomic Era
Rafael Zardoya, Iker Irisarri, and Federico Abascal
Aquaporin Structure and Selectivity
Ardeschir Vahedi-Faridi and Andreas Engel
Regulation of Eukaryotic Aquaporins
Maria Nyblom and Susanna Törnroth-Horsefield
Yeast Aquaporins and Aquaglyceroporins: A Matter of Lifestyle
Mikael Andersson and Stefan Hohmann

AQUAPORINS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Aquaporins in Health
Amaia Rodríguez, Leire Méndez-Giménez, and Gema Frühbeck
Renal Aquaporins: Role in Water Balance Disorders
Tae-Hwan Kwon and Søren Nielsen
Vasopressin and the Regulation of Aquaporin-2 in Health and Disease
Giovanna Valenti and Grazia Tamma
Hepatobiliary, Salivary Glands and Pancreatic Aquaporins in Health and Disease
Giuseppe Calamita, Christine Delporte, and Raúl A. Marinelli
Aquaporins within the Central Nervous System: Implications for Oedema Following Traumatic CNS Injury
Anna V. Leonard and Renée J. Turner
Aquaporins in Carcinogenesis: Water and Glycerol Channels as New Potential Drug Targets
Chulso Moon and David Moon
Attacking Aquaporin Water and Solute Channels of Human-Pathogenic Parasites: New Routes for Treatment?
Julia von Bülow and Eric Beitz

AQUAPORINS AS DRUG TARGETS
Aquaporins: Chemical Inhibition by Small Molecules
Vincent J. Huber, Sören Wacker, and Michael Rützler
Drug Discovery and Therapeutic Targets for Pharmacological Modulators of Aquaporin Channels
Jinxin V. Pei, Joshua L. Ameliorate, Mohamad Kourghi, Michael L. De Ieso, and Andrea J. Yool
Inorganic Compounds as Aquaporin Substrates or as Potent Inhibitors: A Coordination Chemistry Point of View
Angela Casini and Andreia de Almeida

Epilogue
Angela Casini and Graça Soveral

Biography

Graça Soveral is an associate professor in the Pharmacy School at the University of Lisbon and principal investigator at the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), where she coordinates the Biological Transport Unit. She received a PhD in pharmacy, sub-area biochemistry, from the University of Lisbon. Her main research area is membrane transport, with a special emphasis on water and solute transport in cell physiology and osmoregulation, aquaporin gating, and the discovery of aquaporin modulators for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Søren Nielsen is a professor in the Department of Health Science and Technology at Aalborg University. He received an MD and a dr.med.sci degree in medical sciences from Aarhus University. His research involves the cell and molecular biological, physiological, and pathophysiological studies of aquaporin membrane water channels (aquaporins), sodium channels, and transporters in kidney and other organs to explore their role in water and sodium balance regulation in health and disease.

Angela Casini is the chair of medicinal and bioinorganic chemistry in the School of Chemistry at Cardiff University. She received a PhD in chemistry from the University of Florence. Her work in medicinal and bioinorganic chemistry focuses on the study of the molecular mechanisms of anticancer metallodrugs and the development of metal compounds as chemical probes to detect protein functions.

Peter Agre co-authored the preface of this book. He is a professor and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at Johns Hopkins University. He received an MD from Johns Hopkins University Medical School. Dr. Agre was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering studies on aquaporins.