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Biochemical and immunological approaches to the study of gap junctional communication

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Studies on gap junctions isolated from rat liver by a procedure that avoids exogenous proteolysis (Hertzberg, E. L.; Gilula, N. B.; J. Biol. Chem. 254: 2138–2147; 1979) are described. The original isolation procedure was modified to increase the yield and has been extended to the preparation of gap junctions from mouse and bovine liver. Peptide map studies showed that the 27,000-dalton polypeptides present in liver gap junction preparations from all three sources are homologous and are not derived from other polypeptides of higher molecular weight that are observed in cruder preparations. Similar studies with lens fiber junctions demonstrated no homology between liver and lens junction polypeptides. Antibodies to the lens junction polypeptide did not cross-react with the liver gap junction polypeptide, further supporting this conclusion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, 10021, New York, New York

    Elliot L. Hertzberg

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  1. Elliot L. Hertzberg
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Additional information

This symposium was supported in part by Contract 263-MD-025754 from the National Cancer Institute and the Fogarty International Center.

Research in the laboratory was supported by grants to Dr. Gilula from the National Institute of Health (HL 16507 and GM 24753).

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Hertzberg, E.L. Biochemical and immunological approaches to the study of gap junctional communication. In Vitro 16, 1057–1067 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02619256

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