Fig. 3

Spike S1 augments ionic currents associated to Cx43 hemichannels. (A-B) Whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings at -40 mV in HeLa-Cx43^GFP/ACE2^mCherry cells under control conditions (A) or treated with 50 pM spike S1 for 24 h (B). (C) Expanded view of unitary current events depicted in the green squares (E1-E3) of the current trace in B. The frequency (counts) distribution of conductance values is also shown, corresponding to ∼250 pS, ∼160 pS and ∼350 pS. (D) Voltage ramps from − 80 to + 80 mV in HeLa-Cx43^GFP/ACE2^mCherry cells treated with 50 pM spike S1 for 24 h alone (black line), in combination with 200 µM La³⁺ (red line) or plus 10 mM extracellular Ca²⁺ (blue line)