Connexins: a myriad of functions extending beyond assembly of gap junction channels
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BioMed Central
Open Access
Review
Connexins: a myriad of functions extending beyond assembly of gap junction channels Hashem A Dbouk1,3, Rana M Mroue1,4, Marwan E El-Sabban*2 and Rabih S Talhouk*1 Address: 1Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, 2Department of Human Morphology, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, 3Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA and 4Division of Life Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Email: Hashem A Dbouk - [email protected]; Rana M Mroue - [email protected]; Marwan E El-Sabban* - [email protected]; Rabih S Talhouk* - [email protected] * Corresponding authors
Published: 12 March 2009 Cell Communication and Signaling 2009, 7:4
doi:10.1186/1478-811X-7-4
Received: 19 September 2008 Accepted: 12 March 2009
This article is available from: http://www.biosignaling.com/content/7/1/4 © 2009 Dbouk et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract Connexins constitute a large family of trans-membrane proteins that allow intercellular communication and the transfer of ions and small signaling molecules between cells. Recent studies have revealed complex translational and post-translational mechanisms that regulate connexin synthesis, maturation, membrane transport and degradation that in turn modulate gap junction intercellular communication. With the growing myriad of connexin interacting proteins, including cytoskeletal elements, junctional proteins, and enzymes, gap junctions are now perceived, not only as channels between neighboring cells, but as signaling complexes that regulate cell function and transformation. Connexins have also been shown to form functional hemichannels and have roles altogether independent of channel functions, where they exert their effects on proliferation and other aspects of life and death of the cell through mostly-undefined mechanisms. This review provides an updated overview of current knowledge of connexins and their interacting proteins, and it describes connexin modulation in disease and tumorigenesis.
Introduction A cell in its normal physiological context within a tissue perceives micro-environmental cues from soluble mediators, extracellular matrix (ECM), and neighboring cells. Adhesion molecules mediating cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions are multifunctional, providing structural support and links between the cell and its environment, and also organizing the cell's cytoskeleton as well as initiating and integrating signaling cascades [1,2]. Disruption of adhesion complexes, mainly adherens junctions, tight junctions, and gap junctions, leads to interfer-
ence with normal tissue fu
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