COMPARISON OF LUCIFER YELLOW LEAKAGE AND CELL-TO-CELL TRANSFER FOLLOWING INTRACELLULAR INJECTION IN NORMAL AND ANTISENSE NOVIKOFF CELLS UNDER TREATMENT WITH LOW EXTRACELLULAR CA2+

Single and paired control Novikoff and connexin 43 antisense-transfect ed Novikoff cells (antisense cells) were used to investigate the diffe rences of intercellular dye transfer and leakage between these two typ es of cells. Lucifer Yellow was injected into cells by iontophoresis. There was no dye leakage in single cells of both types in Swims soluti on. The dye transfer from injected cell to recipient cell in the norma l solution was different in the two types of cell pairs. The transfer was significantly suppressed in antisense cells; 46/84 cases were bloc ked vs. 1/84 in Novikoff cell pairs. Under EGTA treatment, the dye lea kage in single antisense cells was suppressed showing an increase in t he very slow rate of leakage (16/40 vs. 6/40), and the mean rate of le akage was also significantly low This suggests that dye transfer and l eakage are suppressed in antisense cells and demonstrates that connexi n 43 plays ail important part both in dye transfer in paired cells and dye leakage in single cells.