Mechanisms underlying AQP4 accumulation in astrocyte endfeet

The brain-blood interface holds the key to our understanding of how cerebral blood flow is regulated and how water and solutes are exchanged between blood and brain. The highly specialized astrocytic membranes that enwrap brain microvessels are salient constituents of the brain-blood interface. These endfoot membranes contain a distinct set of molecules that is anchored to the subendothelial basal lamina forming an endfoot-basal lamina junctional complex. Here we explore the mechanisms underpinning the formation of this complex. By use of a tailor made model system we show that endothelial cells promote AQP4 accumulation by exerting an inductive effect through extracellular matrix components such as agrin, as well as through a direct mechanical interaction with the endfoot processes. Through the compounds they secrete, the endothelial cells also increase AQP4 expression. The present data suggest that the highly specialized gliovascular interface is established through inductive processes that include both chemical and mechanical factors. GLIA 2015;63:2073-2091.

Reduced expression of aquaporins in human intestinal mucosa in early stage inflammatory bowel disease

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between aquaporin (AQP) water channel expression and the pathological features of early untreated inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in humans.

Methods

Patients suspected to have IBD on the basis of predefined symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhea, and/or blood in stool for more than 10 days, were examined at the local hospital. Colonoscopy with biopsies was performed and blood samples were taken. Patients who did not meet the diagnostic criteria for IBD and who displayed no evidence of infection or other pathology in the gut were included as symptomatic non-IBD controls. AQP1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were quantified in biopsies from the distal ileum and colon by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Protein expression of selected AQPs was assessed by confocal microscopy. Through multiple alignments of the deduced amino acid sequences, the putative three-dimensional structures of AQP1, 3, 7, and 8 were modeled.

Results

AQP1, 3, 7, and 8 mRNAs were detected in all parts of the intestinal mucosa. Notably, AQP1 and AQP3 mRNA levels were reduced in the ileum of patients with Crohn’s disease, and AQP7 and AQP8 mRNA levels were reduced in the ileum and the colon of patients with ulcerative colitis. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy showed localization of AQP3, 7, and 8 at the mucosal epithelium, whereas the expression of AQP1 was mainly confined to the endothelial cells and erythrocytes. The reduction in the level of AQP3, 7, and 8 mRNA was confirmed by immunofluorescence, which also indicated a reduction of apical immunolabeling for AQP8 in the colonic surface epithelium and crypts of the IBD samples. This could indicate loss of epithelial polarity in IBD, leading to disrupted barrier function.

Conclusion

AQPs 1 and 8 and the aquaglyceroporins AQPs 3 and 7 are the AQPs predominantly expressed in the lower intestinal tract of humans. Their expression is significantly reduced in patients with IBD, and they are differentially expressed in specific bowel segments in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The data present a link between gut inflammation and water/solute homeostasis, suggesting that AQPs may play a significant role in IBD pathophysiology.

Postnatal development of the molecular complex underlying astrocyte polarization

Astrocytes are highly polarised cells with processes that ensheath microvessels, cover the brain surface, and abut synapses. The endfoot membrane domains facing microvessels and pia are enriched with aquaporin-4 water channels (AQP4) and other members of the dystrophin associated protein complex (DAPC). Several lines of evidence show that loss of astrocyte polarization, defined by the loss of proteins that are normally enriched in astrocyte endfeet, is a common denominator of several neurological diseases such as mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. Little is known about the mechanisms responsible for inducing astrocyte polarization in vivo. Here we introduce the term endfoot-basal lamina junctional complex (EBJC) to denote the proteins that consolidate and characterize the gliovascular interface. The present study was initiated in order to resolve the developmental profile of the EBJC in mouse brain. We show that the EBJC is established after the first week postnatally. Through a combination of methodological approaches, including light microscopic and high resolution immunogold cytochemistry, quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blotting, we demonstrate that the different members of this complex exhibit distinct ontogenic profiles—with the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins laminin and agrin appearing earlier than the other members of the complex. Specifically, while laminin and agrin expression peak at P7, quantitative immunoblot analyses indicate that AQP4, α-syntrophin, and the inwardly rectifying K(+) channel Kir4.1 expression increases towards adulthood. Our findings are consistent with ECM having an instructive role in establishing astrocyte polarization in postnatal development and emphasize the need to explore the involvement of ECM in neurological disease.

Loss of astrocyte polarization in the tg-ArcSwe mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the predominant water channel in brain and is selectively expressed in astrocytes. Astrocytic endfoot membranes exhibit tenfold higher densities of AQP4 than non-endfoot membranes, making AQP4 an excellent marker of astrocyte polarization. Loss of astrocyte polarization is known to compromise astrocytic function and to be associated with impaired water and K+ homeostasis. Here we investigate by a combination of light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry whether amyloid deposition is associated with a loss of astrocyte polarization, using AQP4 as a marker. We used the tg-ArcSwe mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, as this model displays perivascular plaques as well as plaques confined to the neuropil. 3D reconstructions were done to establish the spatial relation between plaques and astrocytic endfeet, the latter known to contain the perivascular pool of AQP4. Changes in AQP4 expression emerge just after the appearance of the first plaques. Typically, there is a loss of AQP4 from endfoot membranes at sites of perivascular amyloid deposits, combined with an upregulation of AQP4 in the neuropil surrounding plaques. By electron microscopy it could be verified that the upregulation reflects an increased concentration of AQP4 in those delicate astrocytic processes that abound in synaptic regions. Thus, astrocytes exhibit a redistribution of AQP4 from endfoot membranes to non-endfoot membrane domains. The present data suggest that the development of amyloid deposits is associated with a loss of astrocyte polarization. The possible perturbation of water and K+ homeostasis could contribute to cognitive decline and seizure propensity in patients with Alzheimer's disease.