Background: Acute lung injury is a common syndrom with high motality rate and disablity rate. Among the complicated pathological mechanisms, the imbalance of water in lung plays a significant role, for which, in the past, the dysfunction of vascular endothelial cell thought to be acounted. However, the discovery of aquaporins, as well as deeper insights into them, bring novel perspectives into this field. Objective: Know about aquaporins’ functions in different annimal models of acute lung injury. Content: General features of auaporins, distribution of aquaporins in the lung, aquaporins’ functions in different annimal models of acute lung injury. Trend: Explore functions of aquaporins in the pathological mechanism of acute lung injury, thus providing new thoughts for clinical treatments.