Gap junctions are intercellular channels, which connect adjacent cells and allow direct molecular exchange of low molecular weight between them. Three protein families including connexins, innexins and ponnexins are i...
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Gap junctions are intercellular channels, which connect adjacent cells and allow direct molecular exchange of low molecular weight between them. Three protein families including connexins, innexins and ponnexins are involved in gap junctions. Connexins are only found in chordate and innexins compose the gap junctions of invertebrates, while pannexins are ubiquitous and present in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Gap junctions in metazoan play important roles in electrical coupling, regulating proliferation, differentiation, and embryonic development. Evidently, the defects of gap junctions resulting form proteins contribute to many diseases of vertebrates and invertebrates, such as tumor, heart diseases, nervous system disorders and other diseases in human.
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