The identification of novel protein, brain-derived integrating factor-1 (BDIF1), which interacts with astrocytic gap junctional protein

Accumulating evidence demonstrates astrocytic crucial roles in the brain, but the molecular basis underlying astrocytic intracellular protein trafficking remains to be elucidated. The present study reports the identification of novel protein, brain-derived integrating factor-1 (BDIF1), which comprises TBC (Tre-2/Bub2/Cdc16), SH3, RUN domains. The amino acid sequence putatively coding TBC domain in BDIF1 implied its potential to interact with small GTP-binding proteins (G-proteins), and further analyses by co-immunprecipitation and immunocytochemical staining demonstrated that BDIF1 bound to astrocytic gap junctional protein, connexin-43 (Cx43). Our present data shows that BDIF1 potentially functions in molecular trafficking in astrocytes. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.