Induction of cell–cell channel formation by mRNA

Abstract

Intercellular junctional communication is very common in normal organized tissue. It provides a pathway for transmission of electrical signals, especially in heart muscle, and may be important in differentiation and growth control. The hydrophilic channels which enable cell-cell communication were well characterized by biophysical methods, and there is good evidence that they are contained in the nexus (gap junctions). Little is known about the molecular mechanism of biosynthesis of junctional channels. Knowledge in this area has been obtained almost exclusively from experiments with reaggregated cells, a system complicated by the fact that de novo synthesis of channel proteins is obscured by reassembly of pre-existing subunits or utilization of precursors. To avoid these problems, mRNA was isolated from cells [Cl-1D mouse cell line] in the process of making new intercellular nexus with high efficiency, were incorporated via liposomes into communication-defective cells, showing that the recipient cells established junctional communication.