Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Dominant Loss-Of-Function Gja1 (Cx43) Mutant Impairs Parturition In The Mouse, Dan Tong, Xuerong Lu, Hong-Xing Wang, Isabelle Plante, Ed Lui, Dale W. Laird, Donglin Bai, Gerald M. Kidder

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Expression of GJA1 (commonly known as connexin43 or Cx43), a major myometrial gap junction protein, is upregulated before the onset of delivery, suggesting an essential role for Cx43-mediated gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in normal uterine contraction during parturition. To determine how a disease-linked Cx43 mutation affects myometrial function, we studied a mutant mouse model carrying an autosomal dominant mutation (Gja1Jrt) in the gene encoding Cx43 that displays features of the human genetic disease oculodentodigital dysplasia. We found that Cx43 level, specifically the phosphorylated species of the protein, is significantly reduced in the myometrium of the mutant mice (Gja1Jrt/+), as …

Oogenesis Defects In A Mutant Mouse Model Of Oculodentodigital Dysplasia, Dan Tong, Deanne Colley, Renee Thoo, Tony Y. Li, Isabelle Plante, Dale W. Laird, Donglin Bai, Gerald M. Kidder

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

The essential role of connexin43 (Cx43) during oogenesis has been demonstrated by the severe germ cell deficiency and arrested folliculogenesis observed in Cx43 knockout mice. Recently, another mutant mouse strain became available (Gja1Jrt/+) that carries the dominant loss-of-function Cx43 mutation, Cx43G60S. Gja1Jrt/+ mice display features of the human disease, oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD), caused by mutations in the GJA1 gene. We have used this new mutant strain to study how a disease-linked Cx43 mutant affects oogenesis. We found that female mutant mice are subfertile with significantly reduced mating success and small litters. The phosphorylated species of the Cx43 protein are reduced …

Grasping And Lifting Different Materials, Gavin Buckingham, Jonathan S. Cant, Melvyn A. Goodale

Psychology Presentations

The material from which an object is made can determine how heavy it feels (Seashore, 1899). Interestingly, a metal block that has been adjusted to have the same size and mass as a polystyrene block will feel lighter than the polystyrene block. We recently showed that participants experiencing this material-weight illusion’ (MWI) do not apply forces that match their perceptual experience of heaviness ‐ just like in the size‐weight illusion ( Flanagan & Beltzner, 2000).

Our previous study showed that forces on early trials were scaled to each participant’s expectations of how much a particular block should weigh ‐ excessive …

A Dissociation Between Perception And Action In The Material‐Weight Illusion, Gavin Buckingham, Jonathan S. Cant, Kai-Ling C. Kao, Melvyn A. Goodale

Psychology Presentations

We examined what forces are applied to objects that elicit this illusion when they are lifted.We predicted that:

(1) Forces on early trials will scale to each participant’s expectations of how much a particular block will weigh ‐ excessive force will be applied to the metal block and insufficient force applied to the polystyrene block.

(2) Forces on later trials will scale to the real weight of each block ‐ identical levels of force applied to all the blocks.

(3) MWI will persist throughout ‐ polystyrene block will feel the heaviest, metal block will feel the lightest.

Identification Of Wnt/Β-Catenin Signaling Pathway Components In Human Cumulus Cells, Hong-Xing Wang, Francis R. Tekpetey, Gerald M. Kidder

Physiology and Pharmacology Publications

Signaling via the conserved WNT/β-CATENIN pathway controls diverse developmental processes. To explore its potential role in the ovary, we investigated the expression of WNTs, frizzled (FZD) receptors and other pathway components in human cumulus cells obtained from oocytes collected for in vitro fertilization. Proteins were detected in cultured cells using immunofluorescence microscopy. Protein–protein interactions were analyzed by means of immunoprecipitation. WNT2, FZD2, FZD3 and FZD9 were identified but WNT1, WNT4 and FZD4 were not detected. WNT2 is co-expressed with FZD2, FZD3 and FZD9. Co-immunoprecipitation using WNT2 antibody demonstrated that WNT2 interacts with both FZD3 and FZD9, but only FZD9 antibody …