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Immunological characterization of rat cardiac gap junctions: Presence of common antigenic determinants in heart of other vertebrate species and in various organs

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Summary

Antibodies to the following synthetic peptide, SALGKLLDKVQAY, were purified by affinity chromatography and characterized by ELISA and immunoblotting. These antibodies, shown to be specific to the major protein constitutent of isolated rat heart junctions: connexin 43, cross-reacted with a homologous protein in immunoreplicas of whole heart fractions of trout, frog, chicken, guinea pig, mouse and rat, suggesting a phylogenic conservation of connexin 43 in vertebrates. By immunoblotting of whole organ fractions it was also demonstrated that these antibodies cross-reacted with major proteins ofM r 32 and 22 kD in rat and mouse liver, ofM r 41 kD in rat cerebellum, ofM r 43 kD in uterus, stomach and kidney of rat, ofM r 46 and 70 kD in rat lens, suggesting that these proteins share common or related epitopes with the synthetic peptide and connexin 43.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cellular Differentiation Biology, CNRS 179, Faculty of the Sciences of Luminy, Case 901, 13288, Marseille Cedex 9, France

    E. Dupont, A. El Aoumari, S. Roustiau-Sévère & D. Gros

  2. Institute of Molécular and Cellular Biology, CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France

    J. P. Briand

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  1. E. Dupont
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  2. A. El Aoumari
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  3. S. Roustiau-Sévère
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  4. J. P. Briand
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  5. D. Gros
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Dupont, E., El Aoumari, A., Roustiau-Sévère, S. et al. Immunological characterization of rat cardiac gap junctions: Presence of common antigenic determinants in heart of other vertebrate species and in various organs. J. Membrain Biol. 104, 119–128 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870924

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