Mind the gap! Connexins and pannexins in physiology, pharmacology and disease
نویسندگان
چکیده
Among other aspects it is the communication which makes the difference between a crowd of individuals and a society. Similarly, a key feature of an organism or of organs is the communication between their individual cells realized by mediators, hormones, and by direct intercellular communication via gap junction channels allowing the transmission of electrical signals and the exchange of small molecules to regulate growth and differentiation. This enables the organ or the organism to adapt very efficiently to the actual needs. Due to the important role of gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) for the correct functioning of organs, and tissues a tight regulation of the expression of gap junction channel proteins, the connexins, their localization, and function is required. Besides connexins, another group of proteins, the pannexins, showing many molecular similarities with connexins have been identified. They seem to form hemichannels which may regulate cytosolic homeostasis or the release of small molecules. The present issue provides a comprehensive picture of recent developments and current research in this fascinating, fast developing area comprising review and original research articles on both connexins and pannexins written by leading experts in their research areas. The articles are organized in three parts:
منابع مشابه
Mechanosensitive unpaired innexin channels in C. elegans touch neurons.
Invertebrate innexin proteins share sequence homology with vertebrate pannexins and general membrane topology with both pannexins and connexins. While connexins form gap junctions that mediate intercellular communication, pannexins are thought to function exclusively as plasma membrane channels permeable to both ions and small molecules. Undoubtedly, certain innexins function as gap junction pr...
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Vertebrates express two families of gap junction proteins: the well-characterized connexins and the pannexins. In contrast to connexins, pannexins do not appear to form gap junction channels but instead function as unpaired membrane channels. Pannexins have no sequence homology to connexins but are distantly related to the invertebrate gap junction proteins, innexins. Despite the sequence diver...
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Gap junctions provide one of the most common forms of intercellular communication. They are composed of membrane proteins that form a channel that is permeable to ions and small molecules, connecting the cytoplasm of adjacent cells. Gap junctions serve similar functions in all multicellular animals (Metazoa). Two unrelated protein families are involved in this function; connexins, which are fou...
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.......................................................................................6 List of abbreviations........................................................................8 Introduction...................................................................................9 1.Gap junction................................................................................9 1.1.Connexins..........
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Pannexins are a class of plasma membrane spanning proteins that presumably form a hexameric, non-selective ion channel. Although similar in secondary structure to the connexins, pannexins notably do not form endogenous gap junctions and act as bona fide ion channels. The pannexins have been primarily studied as ATP-release channels, but the overall diversity of their functions is still being el...
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