Immunological characterization of rat cardiac gap junctions: presence of common antigenic determinants in heart of other vertebrate species and in various organs.
Antibodies to the following synthetic peptide, SALGKLLDKVQAY, were purified by affinity chromatography and characterized by ELISA and immunoblotting. These antibodies, shown to be specific to the major protein constituent of isolated rat heart junctions: connexin 43, cross-reacted with a homologous protein in immunoreplicas of whole heart fractions of trout, frog, chicken, guinea pig, mouse and rat, suggesting a phylogenic conservation of connexin 43 in vertebrates. By immunoblotting of whole organ fractions it was also demonstrated that these antibodies cross-reacted with major proteins of Mr 32 and 22 kD in rat and mouse liver, of Mr 41 kD in rat cerebellum, of Mr 43 kD in uterus, stomach and kidney of rat, of Mr 46 and 70 kD in rat lens, suggesting that these proteins share common or related epitopes with the synthetic peptide and connexin 43.
Dupont
E
E
Laboratory of Cellular Differentiation Biology, CNRS 179, Faculty of the Sciences of Luminy, Marseille, France.
el Aoumari
A
A
Roustiau-Sévère
S
S
Briand
J P
JP
Gros
D
D
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology; D017630:Connexins; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes / Q000276:immunology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000276:immunology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009206:Myocardium / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology; D011898:Ranidae / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity
D017630:Connexins; D000939:Epitopes; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments