Figure 7.

Calcium effects of the flux of water through Cx46 hemichannels. (A) Cx46 expressing oocytes were placed in a hypotonic solution with 5 mM Ca²⁺ (Cx46 + Ca²⁺, blue line) or without Ca²⁺ (Cx46, red line). (B) Oocytes injected with Cx38 antisense oligonucleotide in a hypotonic solution with 5 mM Ca²⁺ (CT + Ca²⁺, blue line) or without Ca²⁺ (CT46, red line). The relative volume of oocytes vs. time was plotted for both conditions; the results are shown as mean (continuous line) ± SEM (dashed lines). (C) The rate of volume change was calculated for the last 50 s of the recordings. The Cx46 condition shows a significantly higher rate of volume change than the Cx46 + Ca²⁺ condition and with control oocytes in the presence or absence of Ca²⁺. *p < 0.05 in comparison to Cx46 using Student’s t-test (n = 4 in all experimental conditions).