How Aquaporin-4 Misplacement May Influence Amyloid-Beta Build-Up in Mice

Both the absence and mislocalization of AQP4 significantly increase Aβ plaque deposition in the brains of 5XFAD mice.

• Aβ clearance is facilitated by the glymphatic system, which relies on the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4).
• The study compared the effects of Aqp4 gene deletion and mislocalization of AQP4 in α-syntrophin knockout mice on Aβ deposition.
• Both Aqp4 knockout and α-syntrophin knockout mice exhibited increased deposition of Aβ plaques and microvascular Aβ across the brain.
• Mislocalization of AQP4 resulted in a more significant increase in Aβ plaque deposition than complete gene deletion.
• These findings suggest that AQP4 mislocalization may be particularly important in the development of Alzheimer's disease pathology.

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