Cardiac malformation in neonatal mice lacking connexin43

AG Reaume, PA de Sousa, S Kulkarni, BL Langille… - Science, 1995 - science.org
AG Reaume, PA de Sousa, S Kulkarni, BL Langille, D Zhu, TC Davies, SC Juneja…
Science, 1995science.org
Gap junctions are made up of connexin proteins, which comprise a multigene family in
mammals. Targeted mutagenesis of connexin43 (Cx43), one of the most prevalent connexin
proteins, showed that its absence was compatible with survival of mouse embryos to term,
even though mutant cell lines showed reduced dye coupling in vitro. However, mutant
embryos died at birth, as a result of a failure in pulmonary gas exchange caused by a
swelling and blockage of the right ventricular outflow tract from the heart. This finding …
Gap junctions are made up of connexin proteins, which comprise a multigene family in mammals. Targeted mutagenesis of connexin43 (Cx43), one of the most prevalent connexin proteins, showed that its absence was compatible with survival of mouse embryos to term, even though mutant cell lines showed reduced dye coupling in vitro. However, mutant embryos died at birth, as a result of a failure in pulmonary gas exchange caused by a swelling and blockage of the right ventricular outflow tract from the heart. This finding suggests that Cx43 plays an essential role in heart development but that there is functional compensation among connexins in other parts of the developing fetus.
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