Retinoic acid (RA), a signaling molecule derived from vitamin A, controls growth and differentiation of a variety of cell types through regulation of gene transcription. In the vertebrate retina, RA also regulates gap junction-mediated physiological coupling of retinal neurons through a nontranscriptional mechanism. Here we report that RA rapidly and specifically modulates synaptic transmission...

background: hippocampal damages, which are accompanied by inflammation, are among the main causes of epilepsy acquisition. we previously reported that chronic intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of lipopolysaccharide (lps) modulates epileptogenesis in rats. there is a network of gap junction channels in the hippocampus that contribute to epileptogenesis. gap junction channels are formed ...

Gap junction intercellular communication in osteocytes plays an important role in bone remodeling in response to mechanical loading; however, the responsible molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we show that phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling activated by fluid flow shear stress and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) had a stimulatory effect on both connexin 43 (Cx43) mRNA an...

Gap junction channels composed of connexin43 (Cx43) are essential for normal heart formation and function. We studied the potential role of the Wnt family of secreted polypeptides as regulators of Cx43 expression and gap junction channel function in dissociated myocytes and intact hearts. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes responded to Li(+), which mimics Wnt signaling, by accumulating the effector pr...

Background: Hippocampal damages, which are accompanied by inflammation, are among the main causes of epilepsy acquisition. We previously reported that chronic intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) modulates epileptogenesis in rats. There is a network of gap junction channels in the hippocampus that contribute to epileptogenesis. Gap junction channels are formed ...

BACKGROUND Transient white matter lesions have been rarely reported in X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1. CASE PRESENTATION We describe a 15-year-old boy who presented transient and recurrent weakness of the limbs for 5 days. His mother, his mother's mother and his mother's sister presented pes cavus. MRI and electrophysiology were performed in the proband. Gap junction protein beta...

Xenopus mRNAs that potentially encode gap junction proteins in the oocyte and early embryo have been identified by low-stringency screening of cDNA libraries with cloned mammalian gap junction cDNAs. The levels of these mRNAs show strikingly different temporal regulation and tissue distribution. Using a nomenclature designed to stress important structural similarities of distinct gap junction g...

Heptanol and 18 beta-glycyrrhetinic acid (18 beta GA) block gap junctions, but have other actions on transmitter release that have not been characterised. This study investigates the prejunctional and postjunctional effects of these compounds in guinea pig and mouse vas deferens using intracellular electrophysiological recording and confocal Ca(2+) imaging of sympathetic nerve terminals. In mic...