Aquaporin (Large)

Aquaporins, also called water channels, are integral membrane proteins from a larger family of major intrinsic proteins that form pores in the membrane of biological cells, mainly facilitating transport of water between cells. The cell membranes of a variety of different bacteria, fungi, animal and plant cells contain aquaporins through which water can flow more rapidly into and out of the cell than by diffusing through the phospholipid bilayer. The 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Peter Agre for the discovery of aquaporins and Roderick MacKinnon for his work on the structure and mechanism of potassium channels. Genetic defects involving aquaporin genes have been associated with several human diseases including nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and neuromyelitis optica.