Connexin genes are considered to form a family of tumor-suppressor genes. However, the mechanism of connexin-mediated growth control is not well understood. We now provide several lines of evidence which suggest that SEMA3F, a member of the class 3 semaphorin family, which is also reported to be a tumor suppressor, controls the intracellular localization and function of connexin 43 (Cx43). We employed a series of rat liver epithelial cell lines, among which we previously found that the level of expression of malignant phenotypes (IAR20 < IAR27E < IAR6-1 < IAR27F) is inversely related to that of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). When we immunostained SEMA3F and Cx43 in these cell lines, the extent of immunostaining in the plasma membrane of both proteins decreased in the order of IAR20 > IAR27E > IAR6-1 > IAR27F, suggesting a close relationship between Cx43 and SEMA3F. Further studies revealed a partial colocalization of SEMA3F and Cx43 in the plasma membrane of IAR20 cells. We also found that both SEMA3F and Cx43 moved from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane in a mouse papilloma cell line when E-cadherin became functional after transferring the cells from low- to high-calcium conditions. When SEMA3F gene expression was inhibited by siRNA in IAR20 cells, Cx43 localization in the plasma membrane and GJIC ability were reduced. Moreover, we found that SEMA3F binds with the cytoplasmic loop domain of Cx43, employing the yeast two-hybrid complementation and screening assays. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that SEMA3F directly associates with Cx43 and controls its intracellular localization and function.

We have previously shown that intracellular trafficking and function of connexin (Cx) 26 and Cx43 are controlled by E-cadherin. In the present study, we attempted to determine which part of Cx43 is involved in this control mechanism. Since Cx26 has a very short C terminus in the cytoplasm, we hypothesized that the C-terminal domain may not be important for this process and, indeed, found that green fluorescence protein (GFP)-tagged Cx43DeltaC (deleted from the codon 239) moved to the plasma membrane both in P3/22(E), a mouse papilloma cell line which expresses E-cadherin, and HeLa cells only at high calcium culture conditions. We then found that the GFP-tagged Cx43(CL 26)DeltaC mutant, in which the cytoplasmic loop domain of Cx43 was exchanged with that of Cx26, remains in the cytoplasm in HeLa, HeLaCx43 and P3/22(E) cells, suggesting the importance of the cytoplasmic loop domain. In order to determine which part of the cytoplasmic domain plays a key role, we introduced four deletion mutations (deletion of codons 101-111 [mutant D1], 120-130 [D2], 131-137 [D3] or 146-159 [D4]) to the GFP-tagged Cx43DeltaC gene. When these mutants were transfected into HeLa cells, D1 and D4 mutants were localized in the cytoplasm, while D2 and D3 were found in the plasma membrane only in high Ca(2+) medium. However, none of these four mutants recovered gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). On the other hand, when these mutants were transfected into HeLaCx43 and P3/22(E) cells (which express functional Cx43), D1, D2 and D3, but not D4, moved to the plasma membrane and colocalized with endogenous Cx43 in high Ca(2+) medium; all of these mutants showed a dominant negative effect on GJIC in HeLaCx43 cells. Further deletion studies indicated that the critical amino acids involved in this intracellular trafficking of Cx43 lie between codons 100 and 102.