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Pore-Lining Residues And Intracellular Magnesium Concentration Influence Connexin50 Gap Junction Unitary Channel Conductance, Mary Grace M. Tejada
Pore-Lining Residues And Intracellular Magnesium Concentration Influence Connexin50 Gap Junction Unitary Channel Conductance, Mary Grace M. Tejada
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Gap junction (GJ) channels mediate direct intercellular communication. Each GJ channel consists of two hemichannels and each hemichannel is a hexamer of connexins. GJs formed by different connexins display different unitary channel conductance (γj) and intracellular magnesium modulation. The underlying mechanisms are not fully clear. The present study investigates the effect of mutating putative pore-lining residues (G8, G46, and V53 individually or together) into glutamate in Cx50 on homotypic GJ channel properties. Expression of the triple and individual mutants in GJ-deficient N2A cells resulted in the formation of functional GJ channels similar to that of Cx50 GJs. However, …