Aquaporin technology

Aquaporin technology is used to filter water by selectively moving water molecules through plasma membranes at a rapid speed. Aquaporins are transmembrane water channel proteins that work as nano-filters to block all other solutes from transporting through plasma membranes within living cells (Xie et al., 2013). Aquaporin membranes can be produced through the apical plasma membrane, which is the cell membrane on the surface of epithelial cells (Apical plasma membrane, 2021). This follows the action of vasopressin, which is responsible for activating protein kinase A (PKA), a holoenzyme, to phosphorylate aquaporin subunits contained in the cytoplasm (Litwack, 2020). Aquaporin channels are then formed as these subunits are inserted into the apical membrane (Litwack, 2020).

 

Sources

Apical plasma membrane. Oxford Reference. (2021). Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.2011080309541….

Litwack, G. (2020). Aquaporin. Aquaporin - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. Retrieved September 11, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/aquaporin.

Xie, W., He, F., Wang, B., Chung, T.-S., Jeyaseelan, K., Armugam, A., & Tong, Y. W. (2013, April 19). An aquaporin-based vesicle-embedded polymeric membrane for low energy water filtration. Journal of Materials sChemistry A. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/ta/c3ta10731k/unaut….

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Space Spin-Off Technology

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