Part:BBa_K4586013
CX43
Part Description
This part is a transmembrane protein called connexin (CX43) that oligomerizes to form hexameric channels, called hemichannels, that can control the interaction and transfer of information between exosomes and cells of interest, which is called intercellular communication.
Usage
This part is implicated in our design to increase the amount of our therapeutic agent within the exosomes, as the CX43 transmembrane portion facilitates the loading of our cargo into the exosomes.
Literature Characterization
The study made western blot analyses of extracts from various cell lines to find out the effect of connexin 43 in different cells.
By using Connexin 43 (E7N2R) XP Rabbit mAb in the upper and GAPDH (D16H11) XP Rabbit mAb in the lower. Connexin 43 protein is expressed at low levels in BeWo cells, which is compatible with the expected expression pattern.
In lane 1, we have Western blot analysis of extracts from control 293T cells; in lane 2, we have Western blot analysis of connexin 43 knockout 293T cells, and that was done using Connexin 43 XP Rabbit mAb in the upper and GAPDH XP Rabbit mAb in the lower. Connexin 43 antibody specificity is demonstrated by the absence of a signal in connexin 43 knockout 293T cells.
Characterization By Mutational Landscape
In order to optimize the function of our parts, we've used the concept of Directed Evolution through applying different mutations and measuring the effects of these mutations on their evolutionary epistatic fitness. As displayed in the chart below, the mutation (V236I) shows the highest epistatic fitness, while the lowest score was associated with the mutation (K109Q,S244R).
Figure . An illustration of the effects of different mutations on the Epistatic Fitness of CX43.
Experimental Characterization
In order to amplify this DNA part, we used PCR amplification to reach the desired concentration to complete our experiments using specific forward and reverse primers, running the parts on gel electrophoresis as this part presents in lane (P6) including CX43, and then measuring the specific concentration of the running part using Real-Time PCR as shown in the following figure.
We performed the double digestion method for this part in the prefix and suffix with its specific restriction enzyme and applied this part to gel electrophoresis as shown in the following figure lane (P6).
References
Giepmans, B.N. et al. (2001) J Biol Chem 276, 8544-9.
Sequence and Features
- 10COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
- 12COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
- 21COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
- 23COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
- 25COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]
- 1000INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]Illegal BsaI site found at 782
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