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February 6th 2009 Dr. Torgeir Holen's lecture
Dr. Torgeir Holen will give a lecture on the 9th of February in Læknagarður, University of Iceland. The title of the lecture is What do water channels and square arrays do in the brain? Abstract is below. Dr. Torgeir Holen
Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience
Norwegian Centre of Excellence at the University of Oslo
What do water channels and square arrays do in the brain?
Monday, February 9th at 15:30
Læknagarður, 3rd floor, room 343
The blood vessels in the brain are surrounded by dense, regular structures
called
square arrays. Square arrays have been studied by freeze-fracture electron
microscopy since 1968 1968 (Kreutziger, 1968; Rash et al., 1974), but
their function
remains unknown.
Since square arrays disappear in Aquaporin-4 knockout-mice (AQP4 KO)
(Verbavatz et
al., 1997), and transfection of AQP4 isoforms into cell lines results in a
reconstitution of structures similar to square arrays (Furman et al.,
2003), the
water channel AQP4 is a critical component of square arrays. Aquaporin water
channels are well understood with respect to blood plasma filtration and
water
re-uptake in the kidneys, but their massive presence in the brain is a
puzzle.
Whereas square arrays have been studied exclusively by freeze fracture EM
for 40
years, we have recently developed biochemical methods to analyze their
structure
(Sorbo et al., 2007; Sorbo et al., in press). Using this methodology,
combined with
the discovery of 4 new isoforms of AQP4 (Moe et al., in press), and RNA
interference
(RNAi) in vivo approaches, we are attempting to understand the elusive
function of
aquaporins and square arrays in mammalian brains.
The lecture is open to all and will be in English.
What do water channels and square arrays do in the brain?
Monday, February 9th at 15:30
Læknagarður, 3rd floor, room 343
The blood vessels in the brain are surrounded by dense, regular structures
calledsquare arrays. Square arrays have been studied by freeze-fracture electron
microscopy since 1968 1968 (Kreutziger, 1968; Rash et al., 1974), but their function
remains unknown.
Since square arrays disappear in Aquaporin-4 knockout-mice (AQP4 KO)
(Verbavatz et al., 1997), and transfection of AQP4 isoforms into cell lines results in a
reconstitution of structures similar to square arrays (Furman et al.,
2003), the water channel AQP4 is a critical component of square arrays. Aquaporin water
channels are well understood with respect to blood plasma filtration and
water re-uptake in the kidneys, but their massive presence in the brain is a
puzzle.
Whereas square arrays have been studied exclusively by freeze fracture EM
for 40 years, we have recently developed biochemical methods to analyze their
structure (Sorbo et al., 2007; Sorbo et al., in press). Using this methodology,
combined with the discovery of 4 new isoforms of AQP4 (Moe et al., in press), and RNA
interference (RNAi) in vivo approaches, we are attempting to understand the elusive
function of aquaporins and square arrays in mammalian brains.
The lecture is open to all will be in English.
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