Spreading of porous vesicles subjected to osmotic shocks: the role of aquaporins

Aquaporin 0 (AQP0) is a transmembrane protein specific to the eye lens, involved as a water carrier across the lipid membranes. We propose here a new method based on GUV spreading to measure the water permeability of membrane and single functional water pore. We also demonstrate that truncated AQP0 do not conduct water.