Expression of AQP1 in Vascular Endothelia Cells during Angiogenesis Is Associated with MRTF-A

Recent studies have demonstrated that the expression of aquaporin1 (AQP1) in endothelia cells played important roles in cell migration, and migration-associated cell function such as wound healing, and neutrophil motility. In the present study, we provided evidence that AQP1 expression in vascular endothelia cells (VECs) during angiogenesis was associated with MRTF-A. Morphology and immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that VECs from normal and angiogenesis tissues had similar appearance. Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Immunoblot and Immunofluorescence analysis identified that AQP1 expression was significantly higher in angiogenesis VECs than in normal VECs. MRTF-A expression was also remarkably enhanced in angiogenesis VECs as compared to normal VECs, assessed by RT-PCR. The bioinformatics analysis found that the CarG element existed in the promoter region of AQP1 gene of many familiar mammals, including of mouse, rat, human etc. These results were the first to indicate that AQP1 was a target gene which could be regulated by MRTF-A/SRF.