The aquaporins are integral membrane proteins from a larger family of major intrinsic protein (MIP) that form pores in the membrane of cells. These proteins selectively transport water and other small uncharged solutes across cell plasma membranes. The organization of water within cells and tissues is fundamental to life, and the aquaporins play an important role in serving as the plumbing system for cells. As many as thirteen mammalian AQPs have been characterized, which have been shown to be vital for the regulation of water homeostasis in most tissues, such as renal water balance and brain-fluid homeostasis. However, complete expression patterns of most of the aquaporins in lower vertebrate at embryo stages has not been elucidated. Currently, we systematically described the temporal-spatial expression pattern of nine zebrafish aquaporins, using whole amount in situ hybridization. The results of whole mount in situ hybridization revealed that members of aquaporins family displayed diverse expression pattern, each of aquaporins has its unique distribution in different cell types and tissues, suggesting that they might play distinct roles in the embryonic development. Overall, current study will provide new insight into the expression of vertebrate quaporins and an important basis for the functional analysis of aquaporins in zebrafish development.

水通道蛋白是来自较大家族的主要内在蛋白（MIP）的整合膜蛋白，在细胞膜上形成孔。这些蛋白质选择性地将水和其他小的不带电荷的溶质跨细胞质膜转运。细胞和组织中水的组织是生命的基础，水通道蛋白在充当细胞管道系统中起着重要作用。已鉴定出多达13种哺乳动物AQP，这些蛋白对调节大多数组织中的水体内平衡至关重要，例如肾脏水平衡和脑液体内平衡。但是，大多数水通道蛋白的完整表达模式还没有阐明低等脊椎动物在胚胎期的发育情况。目前，我们使用全部原位杂交系统地描述了九种斑马鱼水通道蛋白的时空表达模式。完整的原位杂交结果表明，水通道蛋白家族成员表现出不同的表达方式，每种水通道蛋白在不同的细胞类型和组织中都有其独特的分布，表明它们可能在胚胎发育中发挥不同的作用。总体而言，目前的研究提供新的见解脊椎动物的表达quaporins和的功能分析的重要依据水通道蛋白 在斑马鱼的发展中。