Pannexin Protein Expression in the Rat Middle Cerebral Artery
Pannexin Protein Expression in the Rat Middle Cerebral Artery
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DOI：
10.1159/000332329
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Sokoya, Elke M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Burns, Alan R.;Phillips, Sharon C.;Sokoya, Elke M.
背景：众所周知，连接蛋白参与脑血管内细胞间的通讯。Pannexins是最近发现的一个蛋白质家族，可能参与细胞间的通讯。在此，我们试图确定是否pannexins在大鼠大脑中动脉（MCA）的表达。研究方法：采用RT-PCR、免疫印迹和免疫组织化学技术研究大鼠大脑中动脉中泛连接蛋白的表达模式。在培养的平滑肌细胞中的荧光染料摄取方法用于确定这些细胞是否具有功能性半通道。结果：我们首次报道了pannexins在脑血管中的表达。我们发现，泛连接蛋白1在平滑肌中表达，但在内皮中不表达，泛连接蛋白2在内皮和平滑肌中均表达。荧光染料进入培养的平滑肌细胞在细胞外钙离子的情况下，或当细胞去极化，这是防止推定的半通道阻滞剂甘珀酸。结论：大鼠大脑中动脉中泛连接蛋白的鉴定表明，泛连接蛋白的表达不仅限于神经元细胞。培养的平滑肌细胞中的染料摄取表现出与连接蛋白和泛连接蛋白半通道相似的性质，这可能代表血管系统内细胞间通讯的另一种形式。版权所有（C）2012 S. Karger AG，巴塞尔
Background: Connexin proteins are well known to participate in cell-to-cell communication within the cerebral vasculature. Pannexins are a recently discovered family of proteins that could potentially be involved in cell-to-cell communication. Herein, we sought to determine whether pannexins are expressed in rat middle cerebral artery (MCA). Methods: A combination of RT-PCR, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry techniques was used to characterize the expression pattern of pannexins in rat MCA. A fluorescent dye uptake approach in cultured smooth muscle cells was used to determine whether these cells have functional hemichannels. Results: We report for the first time that pannexins are expressed in the cerebral vasculature. We reveal that pannexin 1 is expressed in smooth muscle but not in endothelium and pannexin 2 is expressed in both endothelium and smooth muscle. Fluorescent dye entered cultured smooth muscle cells in the absence of extracellular calcium or when the cells were depolarized, which was prevented by the putative hemichannel blocker carbenoxolone. Conclusions: The identification of pannexins in rat MCA indicates that pannexin expression is not restricted to neuronal cells. Dye uptake in cultured smooth muscle cells exhibited properties similar to those of connexin and pannexin hemichannels, which may represent another form of cell-to-cell communication within the vasculature. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel