Figure 7.
Size (diameter) frequency histograms of single intramembrane particles and those forming the gap junction plaques present in the P fracture face of oocytes expressing Cx50. (A) The histogram was constructed from 554 particle diameter measurements and included both the endogenous particles and the newly inserted hemichannels. The bin size was chosen to be 0.5 nm in size and the data in each bin are plotted at the center of the bin. The data were fitted with a multiple Gaussian function (smooth lines). The hatched region (particle size ∼7 nm) and the larger particles (∼11 nm) represent the endogenous oocyte P face particles (Eskandari et al., 1998). The prominent peak at 9.0 nm corresponds to Cx50 hemichannels. (B) A size frequency histogram constructed from 100 measurements of particles arranged in a gap junction plaque. The size of the particle is 9.0 nm, suggesting that this particle population is identical to the 9.0-nm particle identified in the analysis of single particles from nonplaque regions of the plasma membrane (A).