Abstract
The precise expression and timely delivery of connexin 43 (Cx43) proteins to form gap junctions are essential for electrical coupling of cardiomyocytes. Growing evidence supports a cytoskeletal-based trafficking paradigm for Cx43 delivery directly to adherens junctions at the intercalated disc. A limitation of Cx43 localization assays in cultured cells, in which cell-cell contacts are essential, is the inability to control for cell geometry or reproducibly generate contact points. Here we present a micropatterned cell pairing system well suited for live microscopy to examine how the microtubule and actin cytoskeleton confer specificity to Cx43 trafficking to precisely defined cell-cell junctions. This system can be adapted for other cell types and used to study dynamic intracellular movements of other proteins important for cell-cell communication.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1439-1445 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | FEBS Letters |
| Volume | 588 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 17 Apr 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Roger Chang for setting up the single-particle tracking software in Matlab, and Dr. Priscilla J. Chan for work on micropattern development. We also thank Drs. James W. Smyth and Matthew L. Wheeler for critical review of this manuscript. SS Zhang and RM Shaw are supported by the American Heart Association (Postdoctoral and Established Investigator Awards), as well as by the NIH/NHLBI (RO1). Appendix A
Keywords
- Connexin 43
- Cytoskeleton
- Micropatterning
- Trafficking