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G Carlile

Publications and source records attributed to G Carlile.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Porcine aortic endothelial gap junctions: identification and permeation by caged InsP3.

Gap junction channels permit the direct intercellular transfer of ions and small molecules and allow electrotonic coupling within tissues. Porcine aortic endothelial cells were extensively coupled, as assessed by gap junctional transfer of Lucifer yellow and the fluorescent calcium indicators fluo-3 and furaptra, but were not permeable to rhodamine B isothiocyanate-dextran 10S. The subunit composition of gap junction channels of porcine aortic endothelial cells was characterised using both northern blot analysis and RT-PCR techniques. Messenger RNA encoding connexins 37 and 43, but not 26, 32 or 40, were found in freshly isolated and cultured porcine aortic endothelial cells. Western blots using antipeptide antibodies raised to unique sequences of connexins 37, 40 and 43 showed the presence of connexins 37 and 43, but no connexin 40 was detected. Immunostaining with anticonnexin 43 antibodies showed extensive punctate fluorescent decoration of contacting membranes, whilst antibodies to connexin 37 showed predominantly intracellular staining. Caged InsP3 was found to readily permeate endothelial gap junctions. These results show that primary cultures of porcine aortic endothelial cells express connexin 37 and 43, and provide strong evidence that the second messenger molecule InsP3 can permeate porcine endothelial gap junctions.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Rapid modulation of gap junction expression in mouse mammary gland during pregnancy, lactation, and involution.

We investigated the expression of gap junctions in virgin, pregnant, lactating, and involuting mouse mammary gland epithelium with a panel of sequence-specific antibodies to connexins 26, 32, 40 and 43. Indirect immunofluorescence labeling of frozen sections of mammary gland showed that connexin26 was the major connexin in mammary epithelium. Connexins 43, 40, and 32 were not detected. Connexin26 was not detected in the mammary epithelium of virgin mice but was increasingly expressed during pregnancy. At Day 4 of pregnancy, when the mammary gland was composed almost exclusively of ducts, low levels of labeling were detected in the duct epithelium. As pregnancy progressed, the level of labeling with antibodies to connexin26 increased in quantity and intensity. At Day 12, when developing lobules were present, immunolabeling for connexin26 was detected surrounding the developing lumina, which on Day 19 were distended with milk. Labeling of mammary gland reached a maximum on Day 24 (5 days' lactation) but within 24 hr of removal of the litter on Day 28, connexin26 labeling was greatly diminished. No further change in labeling intensity with the antibodies to connexins was detected throughout involution. Double immunofluorescence labeling of 5-day lactating mammary gland with antibodies to connexin26 and anti-keratin 14 or -keratin 19 indicated that the majority of gap junctions detected by this analysis were within the luminal cell population. Western blot analysis of a lactating mammary gland (Day 24) confirmed the absence or low level of expression of connexins 32 and 43, as seen in the immunofluorescence studies, and showed that connexin26 was a dominant antigen expressed in lactating mammary gland epithelium.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Assembly of hepatic gap junctions. Topography and distribution of connexin 32 in intracellular and plasma membranes determined using sequence-specific antibodies.

The subcellular distribution in rat liver and the topography in intracellular and plasma membranes of connexin 32, a major protein component of gap junctions, was studied using sequence-specific anti-peptide antibodies generated to extracellular and intracellular domains of the protein. The distribution of connexin 32 in liver analyzed using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting showed the relative protein levels in the subcellular fractions to be: lateral plasma membranes > Golgi membranes > sinusoidal plasma membranes > lysosomes. Low amounts of connexin 32 were detected in microsomes, endosomes, and bile canalicular plasma membranes. Six highly conserved cysteine residues are located in the amino acid sequences comprising the two extracellular loops of all connexins thus far isolated, and these loops are positioned to extend the channel in the lipid bilayers across the intercellular region of the gap junction. In the present work, the intramolecular disulfide bonds linking the extracellular loops in gap junctions were shown to be present in connexins located in plasma membranes, Golgi, and a microsomal fraction, and it was concluded that the disulfide linkages were formed in the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, immature configurations of connexin 32, probably occurring during membrane insertion, were detected in liver microsomal fractions. The results contribute to charting of the biogenetic routes followed by connexins in hepatocytes and the general mechanisms of gap junction assembly.

Amino Acid Sequence↗