Stimulation of the atypical chemokine receptor 3 inhibits connexin 43 gap junctional intercellular communication

The atypical chemokine receptor 3 (ACKR3) plays a pivotal role in directing the migration of various cellular populations and its over-expression in various tumors promotes cell proliferation and invasiveness. The intracellular cellular pathways transducing ACKR3-dependent effects remain poorly characterized, an issue we addressed by characterizing the the interactome of recombinant ACKR3 expressed in HEK293T cells. Among the ACKR3-interacting proteins identified, we focused on the gap junction protein Connexin 43 (Cx43).