Connexin 43 Interacting Protein 150kDa (CIP150)

CIP150 interacted with GJA1. GJA1 deletion constructs were used to map the CIP150-GJA1 interaction domain to amino acids 227 to 242 of GJA1. This interaction domain of GJA1 was also necessary for phosphorylation, localization to cell-cell contacts, and dye transfer activity of GJA1. When expression of CIP150 was suppressed using RNA interference, GJA1 did not localize to gap junction plaques and gap junction dye transfer activity was significantly reduced.The deduced 1,344-amino acid protein has a predicted molecular mass of 150 kD. Western blot analysis showed expression in human and rat kidney cells, as well as cervical carcinoma, human granulosa tumor, and breast carcinoma cell lines.RT-PCR ELISA detected low to moderate expression in all human tissues and specific brain regions examined.