title: Polyamine signal through gap junctions: A key regulator of proliferation and gap-junction organization in mammalian tissues?
abstract: We propose that interaction rules derived from polyamine exchange in connected cells may explain the spatio-temporal organization of gap junctions observed during tissue regeneration and tumorigenesis. We also hypothesize that polyamine exchange can be considered as signal that allows cells to sense the proliferation status of their neighbors. Polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) are indeed small aliphatic polycations that serve as fuels to sustain elevated proliferation rates of the order observed in cancer cells. Based on recent reports, we consider here that polyamines can be exchanged through gap junction channels between mammalian cells. Such intercellular exchange of polyamines has critical consequences on the local control of growth. In line with this hypothesis, the complex protein network that keeps polyamine levels finely tuned in mammalian cells can translate polyamine efflux or influx into integrated signals controlling transcription, translation, and cell communications.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Structure-Activité des Biomolécules Normales et Pathologiques, INSERM U1204 and Université Evry-Val d'Essonne, Evry, France.
authors.forename: Loic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hamon
authors.affiliation: Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Equipe Spectroscopie des Biomolécules et des Milieux Biologiques (SBMB), Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Laboratoire Chimie, Structures, Propriétés de Biomatériaux et d'Agents Thérapeutiques (CSPBAT), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7244, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Savarin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Structure-Activité des Biomolécules Normales et Pathologiques, INSERM U1204 and Université Evry-Val d'Essonne, Evry, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pastré
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology*; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D011073:Polyamines; D012038:Regeneration; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D011073:Polyamines
keywords: antizyme; cancer; mammary glands; tissue regeneration; tumorigenesis; wound healing