title: Gap junctions of the medial collateral ligament: structure, distribution, associations and function.
abstract: Ligaments are composed of two major components: cells and extracellular matrix. The cells express gap junction proteins and are arranged into a series of rows that traverse the tissue, suggesting that all the cells of the tissue are functionally interconnected. The results of our study demonstrate that medial collateral ligament (MCL) cells do not have a uniform fusiform morphology or placement along a row of cells as previously suggested, but rather display a complex placement and form that weaves within the collagen matrix in a manner that is far more extensive and complex than previously appreciated. Within this morphological context, we find that MCL cells in vivo contain functional gap junctions (verified using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching) that are localized to sites of close cell-cell contact, and this pattern imparts or reflects a bipolarity inherent to each cell. When we studied ligament cells in conventional tissue culture we found that this bipolarity is lost, and the placement of gap junctions and their related proteins, as well as general cell morphology, is also altered. Finally, our study demonstrates, for the first time, that in addition to gap junctions, adherens junctions and desmosomes are also expressed by MCL cells both in vivo and in vitro and map to sites of cell-cell contact.
authors.affiliation: The McCaig Center for Joint Injury and Arthritis Research, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N1.
authors.forename: Simon S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Rattner
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sciore
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boorman
authors.forename: Ian K Y
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Lo
mesh_terms: D022005:Adherens Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D016764:Cell Polarity; D018031:Connexin 43 / Q000032:analysis; D017630:Connexins / Q000032:analysis*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D003896:Desmosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036681:Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017888:Medial Collateral Ligament, Knee / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000032:analysis; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; D051176:beta Catenin
chemical_list: D018031:Connexin 43; D017630:Connexins; C495268:Ctnnb1 protein, rat; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C569044:Tjp1 protein, rat; D015534:Trans-Activators; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein; D051176:beta Catenin