©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Aquaporin-4 and spinal cord injury
Jennifer M Yonan, Devin K Binder, Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
Devin K Binder, Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
Author contributions: Yonan JM performed all literature reviews, analysis and drafting of this paper; Binder DK provided critical revisions, editing and approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Correspondence to: Devin K Binder, MD, PhD, Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Center for Glial-Neuronal Interactions, Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California at Riverside, 1247 Webber Hall, Riverside, CA 92521, United States. dbinder@ucr.edu
Telephone: +1-951-8272224 Fax: +1-951-8275504
Received: September 26, 2015
Peer-review started: October 6, 2015
First decision: November 24, 2015
Revised: December 25, 2015
Accepted: January 16, 2016
Article in press: January 19, 2016
Published online: March 28, 2016
Processing time: 181 Days and 11.9 Hours
Peer-review started: October 6, 2015
First decision: November 24, 2015
Revised: December 25, 2015
Accepted: January 16, 2016
Article in press: January 19, 2016
Published online: March 28, 2016
Processing time: 181 Days and 11.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Edema formation is a major problem following spinal cord injury (SCI) that acts to exacerbate secondary damage. Animal models have become an integral part of understanding this pathophysiology. Several SCI models have been developed, resulting in difficult interpretation between studies with conflicting results. This is true for the role of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channels in the development and resolution of edema following SCI. Here, we discuss regulation of AQP4 in varying models and the effect of current interventions on expression, edema formation and functional recovery. Understanding the precise role of AQP4 will help to determine optimal treatments following human SCI.