Nanoscale visualization of functional adhesion/excitability nodes at the intercalated disc.

ABSTRACT: Intercellular adhesion and electrical excitability are considered separate cellular properties. Studies of myelinated fibres, however, show that voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) aggregate with cell adhesion molecules at discrete subcellular locations, such as the nodes of Ranvier. Demonstration of similar macromolecular organization in cardiac muscle is missing. Here we combine nanoscale-imaging (single-molecule localization microscopy; electron microscopy; and 'angle view' scanning patch clamp) with mathematical simulations to demonstrate distinct hubs at the cardiac intercalated disc, populated by clusters of the adhesion molecule N-cadherin and the VGSC NaV1.5. We show that the N-cadherin-NaV1.5 association is not random, that NaV1.5 molecules in these clusters are major contributo

SUBMITTER: Leo-Macias A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4735805 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature