Gap junctions and purinergic P2 receptors (P2Rs) can be regarded as belonging to a common functional unit, given that they
are involved in the transmission of calcium signals between cells. We have previously shown that deletion of the
Gja1 gene alters expression levels of numerous genes encoding proteins with diverse functions, including purinergic receptors
(P2Rs), and have found that genes synergistically or antagonistically expressed in wild-type tissues are more prone to be
similarly or oppositely regulated in Cx43-nulls. We have now explored the use of coordination analysis of gene expression
as a strategy to identify interlinked genes encoding functionally related proteins and pull-downs to evaluate their interlinkage.
Our findings indicate that, in brain and in cultured astrocytes, several of these coexpressed genes encode proteins that are
components of P2R signal-transduction pathways and/or directly interact with these receptors, including the gap junction protein
connexin43 (Cx43) and Cx45 as well as pannexins. It is proposed that coordination analysis of gene expression may provide
a novel unbiased strategy for the identification of proteins belonging to supramolecular complexes.
Keywords Pannexin - Connexin - Microarray - Gene expression - Protein interaction - Astrocyte - Calcium signaling