Calcium signaling in C6 glioma cells in culture was examined with digital fluorescence video microscopy. C6 cells express low levels of the gap junction protein connexin43 and have correspondingly weak gap junctional communication as evidenced by dye coupling (Naus, C. C. G., J. F. Bechberger, S. Caveney, and J. X. Wilson. 1991. Neurosci. Lett. 126:33-36). Transfection of C6 cells with the cDNA...

OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that the alterations in vasomotor tone and adaptive remodeling responses that occur in the circulation because of hypoxia were dependent on changes in cell to cell communication through regulation of gap junction protein expression and function. Consequently, we studied the amount, distribution, and permeability of the principal vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) gap j...

Cell-based therapies have great potential for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Recently, using a transgenic mouse model Roell et al. reported that cardiac engraftment of connexin43 (Cx43)-overexpressing myoblasts in vivo prevents post-infarct arrhythmia, a common cause of death in patients following heart attack. We carried out a similar study but in a clinically relevant context via t...

BACKGROUND Cellular adhesion mediated by cardiac desmosomes is a prerequisite for proper electric propagation mediated by gap junctions in the myocardium. However, the molecular principles underlying this interdependence are not fully understood. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine potential causes of right ventricular conduction abnormalities in a patient with borderline dia...

iv CHAPTER 1. GENERAL LITERATURE REVIEW 1 1.1 Thesis Organization 2 1.2 Literature Review 2 1.2.1 Gap junction 2 1.2.2 Zebrafish Connexin43 6 1.2.3 Cell migration 7 1.2.4. Lumen formation 11 1.2.5 Significance of Cx43 function in endothelial migration or tube formation 15 CHAPTER 2. A DESCRIPTIVE AND FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF ZEBRAFISH CONNEXIN43 IN VASCULAR FORMATION 16

Rat heart and other organs contain mRNA coding for connexin43, a polypeptide homologous to a gap junction protein from liver (connexin32). To provide direct evidence that connexin43 is a cardiac gap junction protein, we raised rabbit antisera directed against synthetic oligopeptides corresponding to two unique regions of its sequence, amino acids 119-142 and 252-271. Both antisera stained the i...

The connexin multigene family (13 characterized members in rodents) encodes the subunits of gap junction channels. Gap junctional intercellular coupling, established during compaction of the preimplantation mouse embryo, is assumed to be necessary for development of the blastocyst. One member of the connexin family, connexin43, has been shown to contribute to the gap junctions that form during ...

Direct communication between cells via gap junctions is thought to be an important component of homeostasis and coordinated cellular responses to external signals. We investigated how the second messenger cAMP exerts its effects on junctional communication in a mouse mammary tumor cell line, MMT22. Junctional permeance was quantitatively assessed using dye microinjection and video microscopy. A...

BACKGROUND Many signaling molecules and pathways that regulate gap junctions (GJs) protein expression and function are, in fact, also controlled by GJs. We, therefore, speculated an existence of the GJ channel-mediated self-regulation of GJs. Using a cell culture model in which nonjunctional connexin43 (Cx43) hemichannels were activated by cadmium (Cd(2+)), we tested this hypothesis. PRINCIPA...

The occurrence and development of gastric cancer are regulated by many factors result from the joint action factors. Studies have shown that ANP, NPRA, Cx43 play a vital role in proliferation migration cancer. This article reviews relationship between Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), receptor A (NPRA), Connexin43 (Cx43) with review aims to provide an effective reference value for scientific re...