Results: Drebrin was recovered as a binding partner of the Cx43 COOH-terminal domain from mouse brain homogenate. Drebrin had previously been described as an actin binding protein that diminishes in brains during Alzheimer's disease. The novel Drebrin-Cx43 interaction identified by proteomics was confirmed by colocalization of endogenous proteins in astrocytes and Vero cells, coimmunoprecipitation, electron microscopy, electrophysiology, coexpression of both proteins with fluorescent tags, and live-cell FRET analysis. Depletion of Drebrin in cells with siRNA results in impaired cell-cell coupling, internalization of gap junctions, and targeting of Cx43 to a degradative pathway.
Conclusions: We conclude that Drebrin is required for maintaining Cx43-containing gap junctions in their functional state at the plasma membrane. It is thus possible that Drebrin may interact with gap junctions in zones of cell-cell contacts in a regulated fashion in response to extracellular signals. The rearrangement or disruption of interactions between connexins and the Drebrin-containing submembrane cytoskeleton directs connexins to degradative cellular pathways.