Innexin Function: Minding the Gap Junction
نویسندگان
چکیده
Gap junctions mediate intercellular communication and are critical for development and nervous system function. Initially thought to function solely as stand-alone molecules, it has now been shown that a stomatin-like protein regulates a gap junction channel in Caenorhabditis elegans.
منابع مشابه
Gap junction channel protein innexin 2 is essential for epithelial morphogenesis in the Drosophila embryo.
Direct communication of neighboring cells by gap junction channels is essential for the development of tissues and organs in the body. Whereas vertebrate gap junctions are composed of members of the connexin family of transmembrane proteins, in invertebrates gap junctions consist of Innexin channel proteins. Innexins display very low sequence homology to connexins. In addition, very little is k...
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In invertebrates, the direct communication of neighbouring cells is mediated by gap junctions, which are composed of oligomers of the innexin family of transmembrane proteins. Studies of the few known innexin mutants in Drosophila and C. elegans have shown that innexin proteins, which are structurally analogous to the connexins in vertebrates, play a major structural role as gap junctional core...
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Gap junctions are widespread in immature neuronal circuits, but their functional significance is poorly understood. We show here that a transient network formed by the innexin gap-junction protein NSY-5 coordinates left-right asymmetry in the developing nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans. nsy-5 is required for the left and right AWC olfactory neurons to establish stochastic, asymmetric pa...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 17 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2007