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Published July 3, 1987 | public
Journal Article

Selective Disruption of Gap Junctional Communication Interferes with a Patterning Process in Hydra

Abstract

The cells that make up the body column of hydra are extensively joined by gap junctions, capable of mediating the rapid exchange of small hydrophilic molecules between the cytoplasms of neighboring cells. Both the rate of transfer of small molecules through the gap junctions and the rate of return of gap junction coupling after grafting experiments are sufficiently rapid to mediate events in the patterning of hydra tissue. Antibodies to the major rat liver gap junction protein (27,000 daltons) recognize a gap junction antigen in hydra and are effective in eliminating junctional communication between hydra cells. The antibodies perturb the head inhibition gradient in grafting operations, suggesting that cell-cell communication via gap junctions is important in this defined tissue patterning process.

Additional Information

© 1987 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 12 November 1986; accepted 30 April 1987. We thank P. Bode, S. Heimfeld, and L. Javois for helpful discussions and assistance with some of the grafting experiments; and C. Jewell for other excellent assistance. Supported by NSF grants DBC-8510891 and BNS-8406307 (S.E.F.), NIH grant GM-29130 (H.R.B.), and NIH grants GM-32230 and GM-37904 (N.B.G.).

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023