Passage of 17 kDa calmodulin through gap junctions of three vertebrate species

Tissue Cell. 2007 Oct;39(5):303-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tice.2007.06.002. Epub 2007 Aug 6.

Abstract

Gap junctions of some vertebrates are capable of passing the elongate molecule, calmodulin, with a molecular weight 8-17 times greater than the previously recognized size limits. Fluorescently labeled calmodulin (FCaM) (17.34 kDa) microinjected into oocytes of ovarian follicles from an amphibian, Xenopus laevis, and from two species of teleost fish, Danio rerio (Zebrafish) and Oryzias latipes (Medaka), is shown to transit their gap junctions and enter the surrounding epithelial cells. Passage of FCaM was terminated when follicles were first treated with 1 mM octanol, a molecule known to down-regulate gap junctions. There was no FCaM detected in the surrounding medium, nor did epithelial cells become fluorescent when follicles were incubated in medium containing dye. Calmodulin is well known to modulate many cytoplasmic reactions; thus, its passage through gap junctions opens possibilities of additional means by which cells may be supplied with this signaling molecule, and by which their supply may be regulated.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Calcium Signaling / drug effects
  • Calcium Signaling / physiology*
  • Calmodulin / metabolism*
  • Cell Communication / drug effects
  • Cell Communication / physiology
  • Female
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Gap Junctions / drug effects
  • Gap Junctions / metabolism*
  • Granulosa Cells / cytology
  • Granulosa Cells / metabolism*
  • Octanols / pharmacology
  • Oocytes / cytology
  • Oocytes / metabolism*
  • Oryzias
  • Ovarian Follicle / metabolism*
  • Species Specificity
  • Vertebrates / physiology
  • Xenopus laevis
  • Zebrafish

Substances

  • Calmodulin
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Octanols