Immunological characterization of rat cardiac gap junctions: Presence of common antigenic determinants in heart of other vertebrate species and in various organs

Abstract
Antibodies to the following synthetic peptide, SALGKLLDKVQAY, were purified by affinity chromatography and characterized by ELISA and immunoblotting. These antibodies, shown to be specific to the major protein constitutent of isolated rat heart junctions: connexin 43, cross-reacted with a homologous protein in immunoreplicas of whole heart fractions of trout, frog, chicken, guinea pig, mouse and rat, suggesting a phylogenic conservation of connexin 43 in vertebrates. By immunoblotting of whole organ fractions it was also demonstrated that these antibodies cross-reacted with major proteins ofMr 32 and 22 kD in rat and mouse liver, ofMr 41 kD in rat cerebellum, ofMr 43 kD in uterus, stomach and kidney of rat, ofMr 46 and 70 kD in rat lens, suggesting that these proteins share common or related epitopes with the synthetic peptide and connexin 43.