Fig. 1. Mist1^KO acinar cells have greatly reduced levels of connexin32 protein. (A,B) Adult pancreas sections from wild-type (WT) and Mist1^KO mice were processed for Cx32 immunofluorescence (green). WT pancreas sections (A) show a high number of Cx32-containing gap junction plaques (arrows) whereas Mist1^KO sections (B) exhibit no gap junction staining. Nuclei are stained with the DNA fluorochrome DAPI (blue). (C) WT and Mist1^KO pancreas protein samples were subjected to immunoblot analysis using antibodies against Mist1, ß-gal, Cx32 and ß-actin (as a control). Cx32 protein levels are greatly reduced in Mist1^KO samples. (D-I) The loss of Cx32 is not coupled with the loss of other cell junctions. One-month-old pancreas samples were co-stained with antibodies against Cx32 (green) and amylase (D,E), ß-catenin (F,G), or occludin (red) (H,I). In all cases, Cx32 protein is absent in Mist1^KO sections (E,G,I) and present in WT sections (D,F,H). Amylase staining reveals the disorganization in Mist1^KO acinar cells, while no difference is observed between WT and Mist1^KO samples for occludin or ß-catenin staining.

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