QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online February 4, 2009

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Connexins – taking the scenic route?

Connexins, the transmembrane proteins that make up gap junctions (GJs), form hexameric hemichannels (or connexons) in the Golgi before they are trafficked to the cell membrane. Several mechanistic aspects of connexin trafficking have been well characterised, but their targeting remains controversial – for instance, are connexins targeted exclusively to GJ-rich cell-surface membrane domains, or are they also trafficked to other domains? Using rapid time-lapse imaging of GFP-tagged connexin 43 (Cx43), Dale Laird and colleagues (p. 554) now show that Cx43 is present both in GJ-like clusters and non-GJ membranes (including membrane protrusions and cell surfaces that lack an adjacent cell) on the surface of rat mammary-tumour cells. The authors next use FRAP to analyse lateral mobility of Cx43 within the cell membrane, and show that it is most mobile in non-GJ regions. Within GJ-like clusters, they observe a spectrum of Cx43 mobility, and show that a Cx43 variant that lacks a C-terminus tends to remain more mobile within GJ-like clusters. The authors conclude that Cx43 resides at all cell-surface membrane domains in the cells studied, and propose that Cx43 mobility reflects the assembly state of GJs. Their work contributes to our understanding of the trafficking and assembly dynamics of GJs.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JCS:

Cx43 has distinct mobility within plasma-membrane domains, indicative of progressive formation of gap-junction plaques

Jamie Simek, Jared Churko, Qing Shao, and Dale W. Laird
JCS 2009 122: 554-562. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?