The mouse aquaporin-1 gene.

Members of the aquaporin family of molecular water transporters are expressed in diverse epithelia and in complex developmental patterns. Using a cDNA for mouse Aqp1, the structural gene was isolated and a restriction map was constructed. The 13-kb Aqp1 gene contains four exons with intronic boundaries corresponding to other known aquaporin genes. Transcription begins 67 bp 5' to the translation initiation site and 20 bp 3' from a TATAA consensus sequence. Aqp1 was localized by interspecific mouse backcross mapping to the central region of mouse chromosome 6 syntenic with human chromosome 7p14, where AQP1 had previously been localized. These studies have revealed marked structural similarities between the mouse Aqp1 and the human AQP1 genes, suggesting that further comparative studies may provide molecular insight into genetic regulatory features shared by both species.