OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with changes in the expression of connexins 40 and 43 in the left atrium with more pronounced changes in mitral valve disease than in lone AF. METHODS Protein concentrations of connexin 40 and connexin 43 were analysed in left atrial tissue of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. One group of patients had lone AF (n ...

PURPOSE To establish an "electrical fingerprint" for the gap junction channels between mammalian lens epithelial cells. METHODS The double whole cell patch clamp technique was applied to isolated cell pairs obtained from mouse lens epithelium and a continuous cell line of lens epithelial cells derived from the sheep lens (SLE 2.1). RESULTS The junctional conductance in mouse lens epithelial...

Objective: To test the hypothesis that atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with changes in the expression of connexins 40 and 43 in the left atrium with more pronounced changes in mitral valve disease than in lone AF. Methods: Protein concentrations of connexin 40 and connexin 43 were analysed in left atrial tissue of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. One group of patients had lone AF (n ...

Emerging evidence suggests that connexin mediated gap junctional intercellular communication contributes to many aspects of bone biology including bone development, maintenance of bone homeostasis and responsiveness of bone cells to diverse extracellular signals. Deletion of connexin 43, the predominant gap junction protein in bone, is embryonic lethal making it challenging to examine the role ...

Connexin 43 is a prominent gap junction protein within normal human breast tissue. Thus far, there have been a number of research studies performed to determine the function of connexin 43 in breast tumor formation and progression. Within primary tumors, research suggests that the level of connexin 43 expression in breast tumors is altered when compared to normal human breast tissue. While some...

BACKGROUND The modulation of gap junctional communication between tumor cells and between tumor and vascular endothelial cells during tumorigenesis and metastasis is complex. The notion of a role for loss of gap junctional intercellular communication in tumorigenesis and metastasis has been controversial. While some of the stages of tumorigenesis and metastasis, such as uncontrolled cell divisi...

Introduction: Recent studies have shown that astrocytes play major roles in normal and disease condition of the central nervous system including multiple sclerosis (MS). Molecular target therapy studies in MS have revealed that connexin-43 (Cx43) and Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) contents of astrocytes undergo expression alteration. Fluoxetine had some effects in MS patients unrelated to its known antidep...

Accumulating evidence suggests that spinal cord astrocytes play an important role in neuropathic pain sensitization by releasing astrocytic mediators (e.g. cytokines, chemokines and growth factors). However, it remains unclear how astrocytes control the release of astrocytic mediators and sustain late-phase neuropathic pain. Astrocytic connexin-43 (now known as GJ1) has been implicated in gap j...

Accumulating evidence suggests that spinal cord astrocytes play an important role in neuropathic pain sensitization by releasing astrocytic mediators (e.g. cytokines, chemokines and growth factors). However, it remains unclear how astrocytes control the release of astrocytic mediators and sustain late-phase neuropathic pain. Astrocytic connexin-43 (now known as GJ1) has been implicated in gap j...