On the Control of Junctional Conductance

1998 ◽  
pp. 105-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walmor C. De Mello
Keyword(s):  
Junctional Conductance

scholarly journals Equilibrium properties of a voltage-dependent junctional conductance.

1981 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
D C Spray ◽  
A L Harris ◽  
M V Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Rana Pipiens ◽  
Energy Difference ◽  
Ambystoma Mexicanum ◽  
Voltage Sensitivity ◽  
Junctional Conductance ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Accumulation Mechanism ◽  
Conductance Changes ◽  
A Current

The conductance of junctions between amphibian blastomeres is strongly voltage dependent. Isolated pairs of blastomeres from embryos of Ambystoma mexicanum, Xenopus laevis, and Rana pipiens were voltage clamped, and junctional current was measured during transjunctional voltage steps. The steady-state junctional conductance decreases as a steep function of transjunctional voltage of either polarity. A voltage-insensitive conductance less than 5% of the maximum remains at large transjunctional voltages. Equal transjunctional voltages of opposite polarities produce equal conductance changes. The conductance is half maximal at a transjunctional voltage of approximately 15 mV. The junctional conductance is insensitive to the potential between the inside and outside of the cells. The changes in steady-state junctional conductance may be accurately modeled for voltages of each polarity as arising from a reversible two-state system in which voltage linearly affects the energy difference between states. The voltage sensitivity can be accounted for by the movement of about six electron charges through the transjunctional voltage. The changes in junctional conductance are not consistent with a current-controlled or ionic accumulation mechanism. We propose that the intramembrane particles that comprise gap junctions in early amphibian embryos are voltage-sensitive channels.

Gap junction expression and cell proliferation in differentiating cultures of Cx43 KO mouse hepatocytes

2001 ◽  
Vol 281 (4) ◽  
pp. G1004-G1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Kojima ◽  
Alfredo Fort ◽  
Mingyuan Tao ◽  
Masao Yamamoto ◽  
David C. Spray
Keyword(s):  
Lucifer Yellow ◽  
Primary Cultures ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Dye Transfer ◽  
Gap Junctional Communication ◽  
Junctional Communication ◽  
Junctional Conductance ◽  
Mouse Hepatocytes

Primary cultures of adult mouse hepatocytes are shown here to reexpress differentiated hepatocyte features following treatment with 2% DMSO and 10−7 M glucagon. To examine the roles of gap junctional communication during hepatocyte growth and differentiation, we have compared treated and untreated hepatocytes from connexin (Cx)32-deficient [Cx32 knockout (KO)] and wild-type mice. In untreated cultures, DNA replication of Cx32 KO hepatocytes was markedly higher than of wild types. Although Cx26 mRNA levels remained high at all time points in wild-type and Cx32 KO hepatocytes, Cx32 mRNA and protein in wild-type hepatocytes underwent a marked decline, which recovered in 10-day treated cultures. Increased levels of Cx26 protein and junctional conductance were observed in Cx32 KO hepatocytes at 96 h in culture, a time when cell growth rate was high. Treatment with DMSO/glucagon highly reinduced Cx26 expression in Cx32 KO hepatocytes, and such treatment reinduced expression of both Cx32 and Cx26 expression in wild types. Dye transfer was not observed following Lucifer yellow injection into DMSO/glucagon-treated Cx32 KO hepatocytes, whereas the spread was extensive in wild types. Nevertheless, high junctional conductance values were observed in treated cells from both genotypes. These studies provide a method by which the differentiated phenotype can be obtained in cultured mouse hepatocytes and provide in vitro evidence that expression of gap junctions formed of Cx32 are involved in the regulation of growth of mouse hepatocytes.

Intercellular communication in the early embryo of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

Development ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Serras ◽  
C. Baud ◽  
M. Moreau ◽  
P. Guerrier ◽  
J.A.M. Van den Biggelaar
Keyword(s):  
Intercellular Communication ◽  
Lucifer Yellow ◽  
Ciona Intestinalis ◽  
Early Embryo ◽  
Cell Stage ◽  
Early Embryos ◽  
Junctional Conductance ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Cytoplasmic Bridges ◽  
Series Of Experiments

We have studied the intercellular communication pathways in early embryos of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. In two different series of experiments, we injected iontophoretically the dyes Lucifer Yellow and Fluorescein Complexon, and we analysed the spread of fluorescence to the neighbouring cells. We found that before the 32-cell stage no dye spread occurs between nonsister cells, whereas sister cells are dye-coupled, possibly via cytoplasmic bridges. After the 32-cell stage, dye spread occurs throughout the embryo. However, electrophysiological experiments showed that nonsister cells are ionically coupled before the 32-cell stage. We also found that at the 4-cell stage junctional conductance between nonsister cells is voltage dependent, which suggests that conductance is mediated by gap junctions in a way similar to that observed in other embryos.

Distinctive gap junction channel types connect WB cells, a clonal cell line derived from rat liver

1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (3) ◽  
pp. C513-C527 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Spray ◽  
M. Chanson ◽  
A. P. Moreno ◽  
R. Dermietzel ◽  
P. Meda
Keyword(s):  
Gap Junction ◽  
Cell Line ◽  
Rat Liver ◽  
Connexin 43 ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Freeze Fracture ◽  
Particle Sizes ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Gap Junction Channel ◽  
Junctional Conductance

Gap junctions, dye coupling, and junctional conductance were studied in a cell line (WB) that is derived from rat liver and displays a phenotype similar to “oval” cells. In freeze-fracture replicas, two distinctive particle sizes were detected in gap junctional plaques. Immunocytochemical studies indicated punctate staining at membrane appositions using antibodies to connexin 43 and to a brain gap junction-associated antigen (34 kDa). No staining was observed using antibodies prepared against rat liver gap junction proteins (connexins 32 and 26). Pairs of WB cells were electrically and dye coupled. Junctional conductance (gj) between cell pairs averaged approximately 10 nS; occasionally, gj was low enough that unitary junctional conductances (gamma j) could be detected. Using a CsCl-containing electrode solution, distinctive gamma j values were recorded: approximately 20-30 pS, approximately 80-90 pS, and the sum of the other sizes. The largest gamma j events were apparently due to random coincident openings or closures of the smaller channels. Several treatments reduced gj. Frequency distributions of gamma j were unaltered by 2 mM halothane or 3.5 heptanol, but the sizes of intermediate and largest events were reduced slightly by 100 nM phorbol ester, and the relative frequency of the largest events was increased by 10 microM glutaraldehyde. We conclude that the distinctive gamma j values represent openings and closures of two distinct types of gap junction channels rather than substates of a single channel type; these unitary conductances may correspond to the dual immunoreactivity and to the two particle sizes seen in freeze fracture.

Cell coupling in mouse pancreatic β-cells measured in intact islets of Langerhans

2008 ◽  
Vol 366 (1880) ◽  
pp. 3503-3523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quan Zhang ◽  
Juris Galvanovskis ◽  
Fernando Abdulkader ◽  
Christopher J Partridge ◽  
Sven O Göpel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Voltage Clamp ◽  
Total Charge ◽  
Charge Movement ◽  
Cell Coupling ◽  
Β Cells ◽  
Patch Clamp Technique ◽  
Intact Mouse ◽  
Whole Cell ◽  
Junctional Conductance ◽  
Gap Junctional

The perforated whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique was applied to functionally identified β-cells in intact mouse pancreatic islets to study the extent of cell coupling between adjacent β-cells. Using a combination of current- and voltage-clamp recordings, the total gap junctional conductance between β-cells in an islet was estimated to be 1.22 nS. The analysis of the current waveforms in a voltage-clamped cell (due to the firing of an action potential in a neighbouring cell) suggested that the gap junctional conductance between a pair of β-cells was 0.17 nS. Subthreshold voltage-clamp depolarization (to −55 mV) gave rise to a slow capacitive current indicative of coupling between β-cells, but not in non-β-cells, with a time constant of 13.5 ms and a total charge movement of 0.2 pC. Our data suggest that a superficial β-cell in an islet is in electrical contact with six to seven other β-cells. No evidence for dye coupling was obtained when cells were dialysed with Lucifer yellow even when electrical coupling was apparent. The correction of the measured resting conductance for the contribution of the gap junctional conductance indicated that the whole-cell K ATP channel conductance ( G K,ATP ) falls from approximately 2.5 nS in the absence of glucose to 0.1 nS at 15 mM glucose with an estimated IC 50 of approximately 4 mM. Theoretical considerations indicate that the coupling between β-cells within the islet is sufficient to allow propagation of [Ca 2+ ] i waves to spread with a speed of approximately 80 μm s −1 , similar to that observed experimentally in confocal [Ca 2+ ] i imaging.

scholarly journals Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II mediates simultaneous enhancement of gap-junctional conductance and glutamatergic transmission

1998 ◽  
Vol 95 (22) ◽  
pp. 13272-13277 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Pereda ◽  
T. D. Bell ◽  
B. H. Chang ◽  
A. J. Czernik ◽  
A. C. Nairn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Glutamatergic Transmission ◽  
Junctional Conductance ◽  
Gap Junctional

scholarly journals Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 Drives a Switch in Connexin Mediated Cell-to-Cell Communication in Tubular Cells of the Diabetic Kidney

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 2369-2388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Hills ◽  
Gareth William Price ◽  
Mark John Wall ◽  
Timothy John Kaufmann ◽  
Chi-Wai Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diabetic Nephropathy ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Cell Communication ◽  
Atp Release ◽  
Immunoblot Analysis ◽  
Biopsy Material ◽  
Junctional Conductance ◽  
Fibronectin Expression ◽  
Tgf Β1

Background/Aims: Changes in cell-to-cell communication have been linked to several secondary complications of diabetes, but the mechanism by which connexins affect disease progression in the kidney is poorly understood. This study examines a role for glucose-evoked changes in the beta1 isoform of transforming growth factor (TGFβ1), on connexin expression, gap-junction mediated intercellular communication (GJIC) and hemi-channel ATP release from tubular epithelial cells of the proximal renal nephron. Methods: Biopsy material from patients with and without diabetic nephropathy was stained for connexin-26 (CX26) and connexin-43 (CX43). Changes in expression were corroborated by immunoblot analysis in human primary proximal tubule epithelial cells (hPTECs) and model epithelial cells from human renal proximal tubules (HK2) cultured in either low glucose (5mmol/L) ± TGFβ1 (2-10ng/ml) or high glucose (25mmol/L) for 48h or 7days. Secretion of the cytokine was determined by ELISA. Paired whole cell patch clamp recordings were used to measure junctional conductance in control versus TGFβ1 treated (10ng/ml) HK2 cells, with carboxyfluorescein uptake and ATP-biosensing assessing hemi-channel function. A downstream role for ATP in mediating the effects of TGF-β1 on connexin mediated cell communication was assessed by incubating cells with ATPγS (1-100µM) or TGF-β1 +/- apyrase (5 Units/ml). Implications of ATP release were measured through immunoblot analysis of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and fibronectin expression. Results: Biopsy material from patients with diabetic nephropathy exhibited increased tubular expression of CX26 and CX43 (P<0.01, n=10), data corroborated in HK2 and hPTEC cells cultured in TGFβ1 (10ng/ml) for 7days (P<0.001, n=3). High glucose significantly increased TGFβ1 secretion from tubular epithelial cells (P<0.001, n=3). The cytokine (10ng/ml) reduced junctional conductance between HK2 cells from 4.5±1.3nS in control to 1.15±0.9nS following 48h TGFβ1 and to 0.42±0.2nS after 7days TGFβ1 incubation (P<0.05, n=5). Acute (48h) and chronic (7day) challenge with TGFβ1 produced a carbenoxolone (200µM)-sensitive increase in carboxyfluorescein loading, matched by an increase in ATP release from 0.29±0.06μM in control to 1.99±0.47μM after 48hr incubation with TGFβ1 (10ng/ml; P<0.05, n=3). TGF-β1 (2-10ng/ml) and ATPγs (1-100µM) increased expression of IL-6 (P<0.001 n=3) and fibronectin (P<0.01 n=3). The effect of TGF-β1 on IL-6 and fibronectin expression was partially blunted when preincubated with apyrase (n=3). Conclusion: These data suggest that chronic exposure to glucose-evoked TGFβ1 induce an increase in CX26 and CX43 expression, consistent with changes observed in tubular epithelia from patients with diabetic nephropathy. Despite increased connexin expression, direct GJIC communication decreases, whilst hemichannel expression/function and paracrine release of ATP increases, changes that trigger increased levels of expression of interleukin 6 and fibronectin. Linked to inflammation and fibrosis, local increases in purinergic signals may exacerbate disease progression and highlight connexin mediated cell communication as a future therapeutic target for diabetic nephropathy.

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