title: Connexin: a potential novel target for protecting the central nervous system?
abstract: Connexin subunits are proteins that form gap junction channels, and play an important role in communication between adjacent cells. This review article discusses the function of connexins/hemichannels/gap junctions under physiological conditions, and summarizes the findings regarding the role of connexins/hemichannels/gap junctions in the physiological and pathological mechanisms underlying central nervous system diseases such as brain ischemia, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, epilepsy, brain and spinal cord tumor, migraine, neuroautoimmune disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease, spastic paraplegia and maxillofacial dysplasia. Connexins are considered to be a potential novel target for protecting the central nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Departmet of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, the First People's Hospital of Xianyang, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Departmet of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Departmet of Neurology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Feng
keywords: biodegradation; biosynthetic pathways; brain; central nervous system diseases; connexin; gap junction