Aquaporins in lipid metabolism: functions and regulation in health and disease

Abstract

Aquaporins (AQPs), mainly divided into classical AQPs, aquaglyceroporins, and superaquaporins, constitute a channel protein family facilitating the movement of small molecules, such as H2O, H2O2, and glycerol, across cell membrane. AQPs are widely found in kidneys, pancreas, liver, muscle, skin, brain, fatty tissues, and other tissues related to lipid metabolism, playing important roles in lipid metabolism in these tissues by affecting glycerol’s cell membrane permeability or indirectly through secondary pathways. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of AQP expression patterns across various tissues and elucidates their correlation with lipid metabolism, with the purpose of ascertaining the possible clinical significance of these proteins. This investigation provides novel insights and perspectives for future research on lipid metabolism disorders, with a specific focus on AQPs as therapeutic targets to support metabolic health and sustainable disease management strategies.