The Identification Of Connexin50, 57 MRNA On Rabbit A-type Horizontal Cell

Gap junctions widely exist in the nervous system, mediating intercellular communication. A-type Horizontal cells possess the most prominent gap junctions in the retina and play an important role in the spread of lateral inhibitory in the retina. The knowledge about molecular component(s) of the gap junctions between A-type horizontal cells is still limited. In this study, we compared the sequences of many types of mammalian connexins, obtained partial sequences of rabbit connexin 50 and 57. Using specific primers designed against the rabbit sequences, we identified mRNAs of connexin 50 and/or 57 in visually selected A-type horizontal cells using single cell multiplex RT-PCR. We also obtained the whole nucleotide sequences of rabbit connexin50 and 57 by RACE. The amino acid sequence of the rabbit Cx57 shows a homology of 73% to mouse Cx57 and 75% homology to human Cx62, respectively. The amino acid sequence of the rabbit Cx50 shows a homology of 91% to mouse Cx50 and 87% homology to...