Gap Junctions

Prologue. Contributors. Part I. The Connexin Protein Family Divergent properties of different connexins expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Identification of novel connexins by reduced stringency hybridization and PCR amplification using degenerate primers. Affinities between connexins. Expression of Cx43 in rat and mouse liver. The mouse connexin gene family. Part II. Structure Atomic force microscopy of gap junctions. Structure and design of cardiac gap-junction membrane channels. Biochemistry of gap-junction channels. In vitro assembly of lens gap junctions. Part III. Hemichannels Connexins, gap junction proteins, and ATP-induced pores in macrophages. Connexin-46 forms gap-junctional hemichannels in Xenopus oocytes. Solitary retinal horizontal cells express hemi-gap-junction channels. Part IV. Biophysics Molecular and biophysical properties of the connexins from developing chick heart. Multiple channel conductance states in gap junctions. Comparison of voltage dependent properties of gap junctions in hepatocytes and in Xenopus oocytes expressing Cx32 and Cx26. Influence of lipophilic compounds on gap-junction channels. Evidence for heterogeneous channel behavior in gap junctions. Unmasking electrophysiological properties of connexins 32 and 43. Part V. Role of Gap Junctions in Various Tissues and Organisms Nervous System. Plasticity of gap junctions at mixed synapses. Regulation of connexin 32 in motor networks of mammalian neurons. Ocular lens and heart. Channel reconstitution from lens MP70 enriched preparations. Does MIP play a role in cell-cell communication? Gap junction channel reconstitution in artificial bilayers and evidence for calmodulin binding sites in MIP26 and connexins from rat heart, liver and Xenopus embryo. Expression of multiple connexins by cells of the cardiovascular system and lens. The developmental expression and organization of membrane proteins of the mammalian lens. Are cardiac gap junctions voltage sensitive? Trypanosome infection decreases intercellular communication between cardiac myocytes. Pancreas and salivary gland Rat pancreatic acinar cell coupling. Delayed change in gap-junctional cell communication in the acinus of the rat submandibular gland after secretion of saliva. Corpus cavernosum. Gap junctions in human corpus cavernosum vascular smooth muscle. Development. Role of gap junctions in mesoderm induction in Patella vulgata (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Gap junction proteins and communication in human epidermis. Expression patterns of α1 and β2 gap junction gene products during rat skin and hair development. Insect. Double whole-cell patch-clamp of gap junctions in insect epidermal cell pairs. Insect cell pairs. Part VI. Regulation and Biochemistry Phosphorylation, intracellular transport, and assembly into gap junctions of connexin 43. Identification of intermediate forms of connexin 43 in rat cardiac myocytes. Regulation of gap junction by cell contrast and phosphorylation in MDCK cells. Rat connexin 43. Gap junction assembly. Characterization of rat gene regulatory elements. Part VII. Cancer Retinoids and carotenoids upregulate gap-junctional communication. Gap-junctional communication alterations at various regulatory levels of connexin expression and function during animal and human carcinogenesis. Gap junctions and tumorigenesis. Suppression of gap-junction gene expression by growth factors and TPA in human epidermal keratinocytes in vitro. Index.