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The Journal of Neuroscience, February 15, 2001, 21(4):1117-1126

Functional Expression of the New Gap Junction Gene Connexin47 Transcribed in Mouse Brain and Spinal Cord Neurons

Barbara Teubner¹, Benjamin Odermatt¹, Martin Güldenagel¹, Goran Söhl¹, Joachim Degen¹, Feliksas F. Bukauskas², Jack Kronengold², Vytas K. Verselis², Yong Tae Jung³, Christine A. Kozak³, Karl Schilling⁴, and Klaus Willecke¹

¹ Institut für Genetik, Universität Bonn, D-53117 Bonn, Germany, ² Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York 10461, ³ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, and ⁴ Anatomisches Institut, Universität Bonn, D-53115 Bonn, Germany

A new mouse gap junction gene that codes for a protein of 46,551 Da has been identified and designated connexin47 (Cx47). It mapped as a single-copy gene to mouse chromosome 11. In human HeLa cells and Xenopus oocytes, expression of mouse Cx47 or a fusion protein of Cx47 and enhanced green fluorescent protein induced intercellular channels that displayed strong sensitivity to transjunctional voltage. Tracer injections in Cx47-transfected HeLa cells revealed intercellular diffusion of neurobiotin, Lucifer yellow, and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. Recordings of single channels yielded a unitary conductance of 55 pS main state and 8 pS substate. Cx47 mRNA expression was high in spinal cord and brain but was not found in retina, liver, heart, and lung. A low level of Cx47 expression was detected in ovaries. In situ hybridizations demonstrated high expression in  motor neurons of the spinal cord, pyramidal cells of the cortex and hippocampus, granular and molecular layers of the dentate gyrus, and Purkinje cells of the cerebellum as well as several nuclei of the brainstem. This expression pattern is distinct from, although partially overlapping with, that of the neuronally expressed connexin36 gene. Thus, electrical synapses in adult mammalian brain are likely to consist of different connexin proteins depending on the neuronal subtype.

Key words: Cx47; gap junctions; neuronal connexin; electrical synapses; voltage gating; permeability

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Copyright © 2001 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/01/2141117-10$05.00/0

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