Aquaporin Water Channels in Ocular Lens Physiology
Dr. Rosica Petrova
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My research looks into identifying the contributions of several members of the water channel family of proteins known as aquaporins (AQPs) in maintaining lens transparency. Due to their ability to transfer water across cell membranes, AQPs contribute to the generation of the microcirculation system, which in the absence of a blood supply delivers nutrients to the lens core and maintains the cellular structure and optics of the lens. However, the finer details of operation of the microcirculation system are yet not fully understand. To address this the bulk of my research is focused on studying the roles of lens AQP5, AQP0 and more recently AQP3 proteins. It is hoped that by acquired new knowledge on the role of AQPs in the microcirculation system then AQPs could be developed as targets to develop novel strategies to delay the onset and progression of lens cataract.
Current Research Projects
Involvement of AQP5 into the regulation of the internal hydrostatic pressure of the rat lens.
Mr. Nikhil Nair (Masters student), Prof. Paul Donaldson, Prof. Kevin Schey (Vanderbilt, USA)
We are testing the hypothesis that the feedback pathways that regulate the hydrostatic pressure of the lens also regulate water permeability via altering the membrane insertion of AQP5 into the fiber cell membranes.
Verification of the expression of a fourth water channel AQP3 in the lens.
Mr. Nishanth Frances (Masters student), Prof. Paul Donaldson
Recently we have identified the expression on a protein level of a fourth AQP, AQP3 in the lens. With this project Mr. Nishanth Frances will be looking into characterising the expression of AQP3 on a protein and RNA level in several mammalian spices of lens before undertaking additional studies of its functional role.