Cell-to-Cell Communication in Astroglia and the Cytoskeletal Impact

The cytoskeleton constitutes a dynamic intracellular framework for inbound and outbound trafficking of cell organelles and is responsible for cell shaping including cell division. While transport in neuronal compartments has extensively been conquered in particular the shipping of cargo vesicles along microtubules for support of chemical synapses, the supply of molecular constituents to electrical synapses is still enigmatic. Here we describe protocols for proteomic analysis of cytoskeletal elements involved in the trafficking of connexin43, the major gap junction protein expressed in astrocytes. Methods described here offer hands-on instructions for further successful exploration of the cytoskeletal and its interaction with gap junction proteins.