The expression, phosphorylation, and localization of connexin 43 and gap-junctional intercellular communication during the establishment of a synchronized contraction of cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes.

We analyzed the expression, phosphorylation, and localization of the major cardiac gap-junction protein connexin 43 (Cx43) during the establishment of a synchronized contraction in confluent monolayers of primary cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes, combined with a functional assay of gap junctions by the microinjection-dye transfer method. Monitoring of the beating rate and synchronization by Fotonic Sensor showed that at Day 1 of culture cardiac myocytes contracted spontaneously but irregularly, that the contractile rate increased with culture time, and that a synchronized contraction was gradually formed. At Day 7, the confluent cells exhibited synchronous contraction with a relatively constant rate (125 +/- 20 beats/min). Cardiac myocytes expressed a large amount of Cx43 mRNA even at Day 1 and maintained the expression until at least Day 7. Immunofluorescence of Cx43 showed that the localization of Cx43-positive spots was mostly restricted to cell-cell contacts between myocytes and that few Cx43-positive spots were present between myocytes and fibroblasts or between fibroblasts. The amount of Cx43 protein, the proportion of phosphorylated forms to the nonphosphorylated one, and the number and total area of Cx43-positive spots increased with culture time. Gap-junctional intercellular communication measured by dye transfer assay was also increased with culture time and correlated well with the number and total area of Cx43-positive spots. Our systematic study suggests that a concerted action of the expression, phosphorylation, and localization of Cx43 and gap-junctional intercellular communication plays a major role in the reestablishment of synchronous beating of cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes.