title: The mammalian pannexin family is homologous to the invertebrate innexin gap junction proteins.
abstract: We have cloned the genes PANX1, PANX2 and PANX3, encoding putative gap junction proteins homologous to invertebrate innexins, which constitute a new family of mammalian proteins called pannexins. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that pannexins are highly conserved in worms, mollusks, insects and mammals, pointing to their important function. Both innexins and pannexins are predicted to have four transmembrane regions, two extracellular loops, one intracellular loop and intracellular N and C termini. Both the human and mouse genomes contain three pannexin-encoding genes. Mammalian pannexins PANX1 and PANX3 are closely related, with PANX2 more distant. The human and mouse pannexin-1 mRNAs are ubiquitously, although disproportionately, expressed in normal tissues. Human PANX2 is a brain-specific gene; its mouse orthologue, Panx2, is also expressed in certain cell types in developing brain. In silico evaluation of Panx3 expression predicts gene expression in osteoblasts and synovial fibroblasts. The apparent conservation of pannexins between species merits further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, Gubkina str., 3 GSP-1, Moscow 119991, Russia. abaranov@gmu.edu
authors.forename: Ancha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baranova
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.forename: Nadezda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petrash
authors.forename: Anya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pestova
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skoblov
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kelmanson
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shagin
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nazarenko
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Geraymovych
authors.forename: Oxana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Litvin
authors.forename: Anya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tiunova
authors.forename: Timothy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Born
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Usman
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Staroverov
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lukyanov
authors.forename: Yury
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Panchin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017630:Connexins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D019992:Databases as Topic; D005091:Exons; D017629:Gap Junctions; D015723:Gene Library; D016678:Genome; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007438:Introns; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D018075:RNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013583:Synovial Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D017630:Connexins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C492764:PANX1 protein, human; C492765:PANX2 protein, human; C492766:PANX3 protein, human; C516139:Panx2 protein, mouse; D018075:RNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger