Gap-junction protein gene suppresses tumorigenicity.
Prompted by the notion that the membrane channels in gap junctions conduct growth-regulating signals from cell to cell, we transferred the alpha 1 gene for the channel protein (connexin43) of rat heart to tumorigenic mouse MCA-10 cells. Upon incorporation into the cell genome, this exogenous gene was expressed, resulting in functional channels and normal growth regulation: cell-cell communication, determined with a channel-permeant 400-dalton fluorescent tracer, was increased and tumorigenicity, determined in nude mice, was suppressed.
University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, FL 33136.
B
B
Rose
P P
PP
Mehta
W R
WR
Loewenstein
D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D017630:Connexins; D005260:Female; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D051381:Rats; D013489:Suppression, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014162:Transfection
D017630:Connexins; D008565:Membrane Proteins