| First Author | Nishii K | Year | 2016 |
| Journal | Zygote | Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 457-64 |
| PubMed ID | 27172058 | Mgi Jnum | J:285878 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6401027 | Doi | 10.1017/S0967199415000386 |
| Citation | Nishii K, et al. (2016) Absence of connexin43 and connexin45 does not disturb pre- and peri-implantation development. Zygote 24(3):457-64 |
| abstractText | Gap junctional intercellular communication is assumed to play an important role during pre- and peri-implantation development. In this study, we eliminated connexin43 (Cx43) and connexin45 (Cx45), major gap junctional proteins in the pre- and peri-implantation embryo. We generated Cx43 -/- Cx45 -/- embryos by Cx43 +/- Cx45 +/- intercrossing, because mice deficient in Cx43 (Cx43 -/-) exhibit perinatal lethality and those deficient in Cx45 (Cx45 -/-) exhibit early embryonic lethality. Wild-type, Cx43 -/-, Cx45 -/-, and Cx43 -/- Cx45 -/- blastocysts all showed similar outgrowths in in vitro culture. Moreover, Cx43 -/- Cx45 -/- embryos were obtained at the expected Mendelian ratio up to embryonic day 9.5, when the Cx45 -/- mutation proved lethal. The Cx43 -/- Cx45 -/- embryos seemed to have no additional developmental abnormalities in comparison with the single knockout strains. Thus, pre- and peri-implantation development does not require Cx43 and Cx45. Other gap junctional proteins are expressed around these stages and these may compensate for the lack of Cx43 and Cx45. |
