Gap Junctions

This monograph contains research articles from the leading laboratories around the world on gap junctions, the intercellular channels that allow communication between neighbouring cells. It describes the latest results in gap junctions research, the structural and functional characterization of cell-cell channels, the assembly and degradation of gap junctions, the expression and function of gap junctions in different tissues, knockout studies of gap junction genes, the regulation of connexin gene expression, and the functions of gap junctions in development and cancer. Any laboratory interested in intercellular communications and gap junction research will find this monograph an indispensable source of information and reference.

The objective in editing this volume was twofold: to provide a reasoned overview of the field as well as to furnish one that provided this overview within the context of the intellectual boundaries of those who initially attempted to define the purview of gap junction research. The latter objective has been realized by selecting the topics for review in this volume. The former objective was achieved by securing the cooperation of leaders in their fields as chapter co-authors.

Gap junctions are present in nearly all tissues, regardless of their embronic origin and have long been of great interest to scientists from many different disciplines. The international meeting on which this book is based brought together 157 scientists from 12 countries and almost as many scientific disciplines. The papers presented at the meeting were reviewed and updated prior to publication in this book. The seven parts of the book progress from general topics to the more specific ones (role of gap junctions in various tissues, regulation and biochemistry, and cancer).

This book deals with the types of gap junction proteins (connexins) and their distribution within the nervous system, the physiological properties of channels formed of each connexin, and the role of gap junction channels in functions of normal and pathological brain and peripheral nerve. Although glial tissue is emphasized, additional groups of chapters deal with neurons in the central nervous system and with the retina.

In addition to chemical links across synapses, neurons can also form direct connections via electrical gap junctions. These channels play a key role in brain development and intercellular communication. Dere (pathophysiology of cerebral aging, U. Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris; AP-HP Hôpital Charles Foix, Centre de Recherche et Développement, Ivry-sur-Seine, France) introduces types of gap junctions, their structural aspects, expression patterns of connexins (transmembrane proteins), and gap junction-related diseases due to mutations in connexin genes. International researchers working in this emerging field discuss specific connexin genes and their mechanisms of action and function in the developing neocortx, behavior, and neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. The text includes color and b&w illustrations including schematic representations and models. Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Since the first gap junction protein (connexin) was cloned over a decade ago, more than a dozen connexin genes have been cloned. Consequently, a wealth of information on the molecular basis of gap junctional communication has been accumulated. This book pays tribute to this exciting era in the history of cell communication research by documenting the great strides made in this field as a result of the merging of biophysics and molecular biology, two of the most powerful approaches to studying the molecular basis of membrane channel behavior. Twenty-eight comprehensive chapters, authored by internationally recognized leaders in the field, discuss the biophysical, physiological, and molecular characteristics of cell-to-cell communication via gap junctions. Key aspects of molecular structure, formation, gating, conductance, and permeability of vertebrate and invertebrate gap junction channels are highlighted. In addition, a number of chapters focus on recent discoveries that implicate connexin mutations and alterations of gap junctional communication in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including the X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth demyelinating disease, some forms of inherited sensorineural deafness, malignant transformation, cardiac malformations and arrhythmia, eye lens cataract, and Chagas disease.

Communication between cells via intercellular channels – gap junctions – appears essential to certain developmental processes and appropriate organ function. Gap Junctions in Development and Disease aims to describe the molecular events underlying impaired development and disease. Beginning with a comprehensive review of various mouse and human genes encoding the channel-forming connexins, later chapters describe several connexin mutations associated with human diseases such as hereditary deafness and female infertility. Erroneous signaling mediated by the interaction of mutant connexins with other proteins, thought to be responsible for dysfunction of organs such as heart, muscle, brain, skin, lens, placenta, and endocrine tissue in both mice and men, is also addressed. Although the question of why some mutations in gap-junction proteins lead to specific phenotypes remains to be answered, the reviews in this book provide an intriguing insight into the future direction of this research field.