title: Gap junctions and hemichannels: communicating cell death in neurodevelopment and disease.
abstract: Gap junctions are unique membrane channels that play a significant role in intercellular communication in the developing and mature central nervous system (CNS). These channels are composed of connexin proteins that oligomerize into hexamers to form connexons or hemichannels. Many different connexins are expressed in the CNS, with some specificity with regard to the cell types in which distinct connexins are found, as well as the timepoints when they are expressed in the developing and mature CNS. Both the main neuronal Cx36 and glial Cx43 play critical roles in neurodevelopment. These connexins also mediate distinct aspects of the CNS response to pathological conditions. An imbalance in the expression, translation, trafficking and turnover of connexins, as well as mutations of connexins, can impact their function in the context of cell death in neurodevelopment and disease. With the ever-increasing understanding of connexins in the brain, therapeutic strategies could be developed to target these membrane channels in various neurological disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, The University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA.
authors.forename: Andrei B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Belousov
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, The University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, 66160, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Fontes
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors.forename: Moises
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Freitas-Andrade
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Life Sciences Institute, The University of British Columbia, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada. christian.naus@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Christian C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Naus
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D016923:Cell Death; D017630:Connexins / Q000378:metabolism*; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D017630:Connexins