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Science 19 February 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5405, pp. 1176 - 1180
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5405.1176
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Reports

Three-Dimensional Structure of a Recombinant Gap Junction Membrane Channel

Vinzenz M. Unger, 1* Nalin M. Kumar, 1 Norton B. Gilula, 1 Mark Yeager 12dagger

Gap junction membrane channels mediate electrical and metabolic coupling between adjacent cells. The structure of a recombinant cardiac gap junction channel was determined by electron crystallography at resolutions of 7.5 angstroms in the membrane plane and 21 angstroms in the vertical direction. The dodecameric channel was formed by the end-to-end docking of two hexamers, each of which displayed 24 rods of density in the membrane interior, which is consistent with an alpha -helical conformation for the four transmembrane domains of each connexin subunit. The transmembrane alpha -helical rods contrasted with the double-layered appearance of the extracellular domains. Although not indicative for a particular type of secondary structure, the protein density that formed the extracellular vestibule provided a tight seal to exclude the exchange of substances with the extracellular milieu.

1 The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Cell Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road,
2 Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Scripps Clinic, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
*   Present address: Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysik, Abteilung Strukturbiologie, Heinrich-Hoffmann-Strasse 7, D-60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

dagger    To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yeager{at}scripps.edu

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Norton B. Gilula (1944-2000).
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Connexin-specific distribution within gap junctions revealed in living cells.
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Role of the Carboxyl Terminal of Connexin43 in Transjunctional Fast Voltage Gating.
A. P. Moreno, M. Chanson, J. Anumonwo, I. Scerri, H. Gu, S. M. Taffet, and M. Delmar (2002)
Circ. Res. 90, 450-457
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