Among thirteen different mammalian AQPs, AQP1 and AQP4 have been mainly studied in the CNS and evidence has been presented that they play important roles in the pathogenesis of CNS injury, edema and multiple diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, glioblastoma multiforme, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The gene discussed is AQP4; the disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.