Gap junctional units are functionally expressed before first cleavage in the early ascidian embryo

The American Journal of Physiology
Elisabetta Tosti

Abstract

Manually apposed ascidian zygotes established electrical communication within 50 min of fertilization and before cytokinesis. Junctional conductance between zygotes was 14.5 +/- 2.9 nS (n = 7), similar to that previously reported for ascidian two-cell-stage blastomeres, suggesting that zygotes and blastomeres express an equivalent number of gap junctional half-channels. Because puromycin at 400 microM does not inhibit the functional expression of these half-channels, they appear to be of maternal origin and their activation does not require protein synthesis. Loading zygotes with 500 mM ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid or exposing zygotes to 10 microM of the calcium ionophore A-23187 shows that these half-channels are regulated by intracellular calcium, consistent with the behavior of these channels in adult tissues. The results show that gap junctional units are expressed in the ascidian at the zygote stage.

References

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Citations

Jan 21, 2006·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Annunziata CuomoElisabetta Tosti
Apr 27, 2011·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Elisabetta TostiFrancesco Silvestre
Jul 23, 2003·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Elisabetta TostiAntonio Miralto
Jun 30, 2010·Molecular Reproduction and Development·Elisabetta Tosti
Mar 19, 2016·Birth Defects Research. Part C, Embryo Today : Reviews·Elisabetta TostiAlessandra Gallo

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