Camp promotes gap junctional coupling in t84 cells. Chanson, Marc, Michael M. White, and Sarah S. Garber. Dept. of Physiology,, Medical College of Pennsylvania, and Hahnemann University, 2900 Queen Lane, Philadelphia PA, 19129 U.S.A.
APStracts 3:0064C, 1996.
The effect of [cAMP]i on dye and electrical coupling was studied in T84 cells, a cell line often used as a model for epithelial cell fluid secretion. Injections of Lucifer Yellow (LY) into single cells within a cluster control cells resulted in LY localization to 1.3 +/- 0.2 (mean +/- SEM) cells within a cluster. 26% of control T84 cell pairs were electrically coupled as assayed by the dual patch-clamp technique. Treatment of cells with agents that either increase intracellular cAMP and/or activate protein kinase A (PKA) increased dye localization to 3.8 +/- 0.6 cells and the proportion of electrically coupled cell pairs to 65%. No electrical coupling was observed in the presence of the PKA antagonist Rp-cAMPS. Excess of Rp-cAMPS prevented cell coupling elicited by 20 [mu]M Sp-cAMPS. Expression of connexin 32 mRNA, but not those for connexins 26, 43, or 45, was detected by RT-PCR. These results suggest that communication between T84 cells is modulated by PKA, providing a mechanism for regulating multicellular activity, such as fluid secretion.

Received 23 May 1995; accepted in final form 9 February 1996.
APS Manuscript Number C297-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Cell Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 13 March 96