ArticleMolecular vision2009
Gap junction remodeling associated with cholesterol redistribution during fiber cell maturation in the adult chicken lens.
Article in Molecular vision, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lipids intercalate and mediate multi-channel assemblies of connexin-46/50 gap junctions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Beyond the Channels: Adhesion Functions of Aquaporin 0 and Connexin 50 in Lens Development.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022Review
- Cholesterol and cholesterol bilayer domains inhibit binding of alpha-crystallin to the membranes made of the major phospholipids of eye lens fiber cell plasma membranes.Experimental eye research · 2021Article
- Connexin 50 and AQP0 are Essential in Maintaining Organization and Integrity of Lens Fibers.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2019Article
- Changes in the Properties and Organization of Human Lens Lipid Membranes Occurring with Age.Current eye research · 2017Article
- Focus on lens connexins.BMC cell biology · 2017Review
- Breakdown of interlocking domains may contribute to formation of membranous globules and lens opacity in ephrin-A5(-/-) mice.Experimental eye research · 2016Article
- Proteomic Analysis of Lipid Raft-Like Detergent-Resistant Membranes of Lens Fiber Cells.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2015Article
- Lens ion homeostasis relies on the assembly and/or stability of large connexin 46 gap junction plaques on the broad sides of differentiating fiber cells.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2015Article
- Lipid domains in intact fiber-cell plasma membranes isolated from cortical and nuclear regions of human eye lenses of donors from different age groups.Experimental eye research · 2015Article
- Regional changes of AQP0-dependent square array junction and gap junction associated with cortical cataract formation in the Emory mutant mouse.Experimental eye research · 2014Article
- Massive formation of square array junctions dramatically alters cell shape but does not cause lens opacity in the cav1-KO mice.Experimental eye research · 2014Article
- Lipid-protein interactions in plasma membranes of fiber cells isolated from the human eye lens.Experimental eye research · 2014Article
- The effects of age on lens transport.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2013Article
- Fast structural responses of gap junction membrane domains to AB5 toxins.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2013Article
- Functions of cholesterol and the cholesterol bilayer domain specific to the fiber-cell plasma membrane of the eye lens.The Journal of membrane biology · 2012Review
- Gap junctions are selectively associated with interlocking ball-and-sockets but not protrusions in the lens.Molecular vision · 2010Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTo investigate the structural remodeling in gap junctions associated with cholesterol redistribution during fiber cell maturation in the adult chicken lens. We also evaluated the hypothesis that the cleavage of the COOH-terminus of chick Cx50 (formerly Cx45.6) during fiber cell maturation would affect the gap junction remodeling.
methodsFreeze-fracture TEM and filipin cytochemistry were applied to visualize structural remodeling of gap junction connexons associated with cholesterol redistribution during fiber cell maturation in adult leghorn chickens (42-62 weeks old). Freeze-fracture immunogold labeling (FRIL) was used to label the specific Cx50 COOH-terminus antibody in various structural configurations of gap junctions.
resultsCortical fiber cells of the adult lenses contained three subtypes of cholesterol-containing gap junctions (i.e., cholesterol-rich, cholesterol-intermediate, and cholesterol-poor or -free) in both outer and inner cortical zones. Quantitative studies showed that approximately 81% of gap junctions in the outer cortex were cholesterol-rich gap junctions whereas approximately 78% of gap junctions in the inner cortex were cholesterol-free ones. Interestingly, all cholesterol-rich gap junctions in the outer cortex displayed loosely-packed connexons whereas cholesterol-free gap junctions in the deep zone exhibited tightly, hexagonal crystalline-arranged connexons. Also, while the percentage of membrane area specialized as gap junctions in the outer cortex was measured approximately 5 times higher than that of the inner cortex, the connexon density of the crystalline-packed gap junctions in the inner cortex was about 2 times higher than that of the loosely-packed ones in the outer cortex. Furthermore, FRIL demonstrated that while the Cx50 COOH-terminus antibody was labeled in all loosely-packed gap junctions examined in the outer cortex, little to no immunogold labeling was seen in the crystalline-packed connexons in the inner cortex.
conclusionsGap junctions undergo significant structural remodeling during fiber cell maturation in the adult chicken lens. The cholesterol-rich gap junctions with loosely-packed connexons in the young outer cortical fibers are transformed into cholesterol-free ones with crystalline-packed connexons in the mature inner fibers. In addition, the loss of the COOH-terminus of Cx50 seems to contribute equally to the transformation of the loosely-packed connexons to the crystalline-packed connexons during fiber cell maturation. This transformation causes a significant increase in the connexon density in crystalline gap junctions. As a result, it compensates considerably for the large decrease in the percentage of membrane area specialized as gap junctions in the mature inner fibers in the adult chicken lens.
Indexed as
Identifiers
19657477PMC2720993W1585569101What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.