Skip Navigation


Human Reproduction Update Advance Access originally published online on July 13, 2006
Human Reproduction Update 2006 12(6):785-795; doi:10.1093/humupd/dml035
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
12/6/785    most recent
dml035v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Huang, H.-F.
Right arrow Articles by Ma, Y.-Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Huang, H.-F.
Right arrow Articles by Ma, Y.-Y.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Function of aquaporins in female and male reproductive systems

He-Feng Huang1, Rong-Huan He, Chao-Chao Sun, Yu Zhang, Qing-Xia Meng and Ying-Ying Ma

Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310006, China. E-mail: huanghefg{at}hotmail.com.

The flow of water and some other small molecules across cell membranes is important in many of the processes underlying reproduction. The fluid movement is strongly associated with the presence of aquaporins (AQPs) in the female and male reproductive systems. It has been suggested that AQPs mediate water movement into the antral follicle and play important roles in follicle development. AQPs are known to be involved in the early stage of spermatogenesis, in the secretion of tubule liquid and in the concentration and storage of spermatozoa. Fluid reabsorption in some regions of the male reproductive tract is under steroid hormone control and could be mediated by various AQPs. Also AQPs take part in the processes of fertilization, blastocyst formation (as the pathway for transtrophoectodermal water movement during cavitation) and implantation. Alterations in the expression and function or regulation of AQPs have already been demonstrated in disorders of the male reproductive system, such as abnormal sperm motility, the abnormal epididymis and infertility seen in cystic fibrosis, and varicocele. This article extensively reviews the distribution of AQPs in mammalian reproductive tissues and discusses their possible physiological and pathophysiological roles.

Key words: aquaporins / endocrinology / female tract / male tract / reproduction


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.