Figure 4
From: Progesterone Via its Type-A Receptor Promotes Myometrial Gap Junction Coupling
Cx43 forward trafficking is modulated by Cx43-20 K in PRA and PRB Cells. Representative images of human myometrial cells hTERT-HMA/B transfected with Cx43-GFP (a,b) or Cx43-GFP + mCh-Cx43-20 K (c–h) or Cx43-ML-GFP (i,j) or Cx43-ML-GFP + mCh-Cx43-20 K (k–p) and induced for PRA (a,c,d,e,i,k,l,m) or PRB (b,f,g,h,j,n,o,p) expression for 24 h and stimulated with P4 (100 nM) for 2 h. Results showed that Cx43 forward trafficking is restricted in the PRB cells transfected with Cx43-GFP (b) however it was rescued by co-transfection of Cx43-GFP and mCh-Cx43-20 K (f,g,h). The lower panel shows that the forward trafficking of Cx43 is blocked in both PRA and PRB cells when transfected with Cx43-ML-GFP (which is unable to express Cx43-20 K, i,j), while it is rescued when Cx43-ML-GFP is co-transfected with mCh-Cx43-20 K (k–p). GFP is represented with green fluorescence, mCh-Cx43-20 K with red and their co-localization with yellow colour. Scale bar = 20 μm.
