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TEMPORAL CHANGE IN GAP JUNCTION FUNCTION IN PRIMARY HEPATOCYTES
Citation:
Wang, X., D E. House, J. P. Blanchard, J. Zhang, AND C F. Blackman. TEMPORAL CHANGE IN GAP JUNCTION FUNCTION IN PRIMARY HEPATOCYTES. Presented at Am Soc for Cell Biology, San Francisco, CA, 12/9-13/2000.
Description:
TEMPORAL CHANGES IN GAP JUNCTION FUNCTION IN PRIMARY *
The objective of this study was to examine the reduction in gap junction communication (GJC) in primary hepatocytes due to coincident melatonin and magnetic field treatments to determine if these conditions could provide insight into GJC regulation. Primary hepatocytes, prepared from B6C3F1 male mice according to the method of Klaunig et al. (1989), were treated with 0.4 nM melatonin for 24 hours. Treated cells were then exposed to magnetic fields, 38.4 uT DC and parallel sinusoidal 45-Hz AC at 24.4 uTrms, for selected time periods up to 3 hours. Following treatment, the cells were microinjected with Lucifer yellow dye and the percentage of nearest neighbor cells to which the dye transferred (dye coupling) was determined. The amount of dye coupling was reduced from 96% (sham treatment) to 80% under the magnetic field exposure condition, and that reduction reached maximal value by 1.5 hours of exposure. Putative and known tumor promoting chemicals can reduce GJC, and it has been hypothesized that such reduction is a significant event in the tumor promotion process. We have found that melatonin and magnetic fields allow us to distinguish between the actions of different environmental chemicals on GJC. This ability to modulate GJC in the presence of GJC-inhibiting chemicals may yield insight into tumor promotion or suppression mechanisms, and provide a basis to begin molecular level studies of gap junction regulation in such circumstances.
This abstract does not reflect EPA or NRC policy.