Gap Junctions and Connexins in Health and Disease, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Medicine".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 2770
Special Issue Editors
Interests: vision; retinal signal processing; ganglion cells; population coding; electrical synapses; parallel signaling; morphological/functional classification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: retina; gap junction; neuronal degeneration; traumatic brain injury
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Connexins are pore-forming proteins incorporated in the cellular membrane, where they coalesce into hexamer connexons (hemichannels). They either serve as an interface between the intracellular molecular milieu and the extracellular environment or pair up with other connexons embedded in the membrane of a neighbor cell to form intercellular passageways. The latter structure is called the gap junction and allows for the transcellular movement of ions and small-weight molecules. Both hemichannels and gap junctions can serve metabolic and/or electrical communication purposes for various cells in the body; thus, they appear to be essential and versatile factors in conducting many specific functions for living systems. Nevertheless, disruption or exacerbation of hemichannel and gap junction functioning are related to a number of pathological conditions, further demonstrating their essential roles in the life of living cells. Finally, gap junctions have also been proposed to distribute apoptotic factors (death signals) between connected cells. This so-called bystander effect underlies a secondary loss of cells that maintain gap junction contact with their injured neighbors even if they escape a primary harmful insult. Due to the latter feature, gap junctions have recently been identified as potential therapeutic targets in trials using pharmacological blockade, gene therapy, or electrical stimulation. This Special Issue intends to bring work from many different fields of biology together to reveal recent advances in both discovery and clinical research, with a focus on connexins and gap junctions.
Prof. Dr. Béla Völgyi
Dr. Tamas Kovacs-Oller
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- connexin
- connexon
- hemichannel
- gap junction
- electrical synapse
- communication
- bystander effect
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Related Special Issue
- Gap Junctions and Connexins in Health and Disease in Biomolecules (5 articles)
