FIGURE 2:

Assembly and function of Cx46 but not Cx43 is dependent on a C-terminal domain. (A, B) Wild-type Cx46, like Cx50, produced strong macular staining in HeLa cells and robust neurobiotin transfer. (C, D) Deletion of its ultimate C-terminal residue (Cx46Δ417) resulted in a major reduction but not complete loss of macular localization and a complementary reduction of dye transfer. (E, F) FLAG-tagged Cx46 truncated at residue 290 neither formed immunofluorescent puncta nor induced coupling in HeLa cells. (G, H) Wild-type Cx43 expression induced robust dye coupling, which was not affected by severe C-terminal truncation at residue 258.