Abstract Activation and proliferation of antigen specific T cells depends on the interaction multiple signaling molecules with TCR/CD3 complex. We report that expression connexin 43 (Cx43), a gap junction protein, is critical for expansion antigen-specific or self-reactive effector CD4 +T cells. While mediated intercellular communication has been main focus research, cytoplasmic C-terminus Cx43...

Connexin43 (Cx43) is known to have tumor-suppressive effects, but the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. In keratinocytes, we previously showed that the COOH-terminal domain of Cx43 directly interacts with the tumor suppressor Cav-1. We now show that rat epidermal keratinocytes (REK) that are reduced in Cx43 present features of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and are more i...

BACKGROUND Guanylyl cyclase, a heme-containing α1β1 heterodimer (GC1), produces cGMP in response to Nitric oxide (NO) stimulation. The NO-GC1-cGMP pathway negatively regulates cardiomyocyte contractility and protects against cardiac hypertrophy-related remodeling. We recently reported that the β1 subunit of GC1 is detected at the intercalated disc with connexin 43 (Cx43). Cx43 forms gap junctio...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether osteocytic connexin 43 (Cx43) is required for the bone response to intermittent PTH administration, and whether the connexin is involved in maintaining the bone matrix. METHODS Human PTH(1-34) was injected to adult male mice expressing (Cx43(fl/fl)) or not osteocytic Cx43 (Cx43(fl/fl);DMP1-8kb-Cre) daily (100 µg/kg/d) for 14 days. RESULTS Cx43(fl/fl);DMP1-8k...

Intracellular signaling in osteocytes activated by mechanical loading is important for bone formation and remodeling. These signaling events are mediated by small modulators released from Cx43 hemichannels (HC). We have recently shown that integrin α5 senses the mechanical stimulation and induces the opening of Cx43 HC; however, the underlying mechanism is unknown. Here, we show that both Cx43 ...

During myocardial ischemia, connexin 43 (Cx43) is dephosphorylated in vitro, and the subsequent opening of gap junctions formed by two opposing Cx43 hexamers was suggested to propagate ischemia/reperfusion injury. Reduction of infarct size (IS) by ischemic preconditioning (IP) involves activation of protein kinase C (PKC) and p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK), both of which can phosph...

RATIONALE Spatial heterogeneity in connexin (Cx) expression has been implicated in arrhythmogenesis. OBJECTIVE This study was performed to quantify the relation between the degree of heterogeneity in Cx43 expression and disturbances in electric propagation. METHODS AND RESULTS Cell pairs and strands composed of mixtures of Cx43(-/-) (Cx43KO) or GFP-expressing Cx43(+/+) (WT(GFP)) murine vent...

Accumulated evidence suggests that connexin43 (Cx43) serves as a tumor-suppressing gene. We have previously shownA. B. that Cx43 suppressed the G(1)-S phase cell cycle transition via increasing the level of p27 (Zhang, Y. W., et al., Oncogene, 20: 4138-4149, 2001). Here we report that Cx43 inhibited expression of Skp2, the human F-box protein that regulates p27 ubiquitination. This reduction wa...

Connexin 43 (Cx43) has been reported to be expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. Evidence for possible variations in Cx43 distribution within different parts of the vascular system is limited. We have therefore investigated the expression of Cx43 in the endothelia and media of 11 vessels of different size and function in the rat, using immunofluorescence and confocal ...

In nonischemic heart failure (HF), ventricular tachycardia initiates by a nonreentrant mechanism, but there is altered conduction (that could lead to re-entry) that could arise from changes in gap junctional proteins, especially connexin43 (Cx43). We studied Cx43 expression and phosphorylation state in the left ventricle (LV) from an arrhythmogenic rabbit model of nonischemic HF and from patien...