ReviewThe Biochemical journal2006
The gap junction cellular internet: connexin hemichannels enter the signalling limelight.
Review in The Biochemical journal, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 192 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
192 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 408 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review on the Role of the Stria Vascularis in Menière's Disease Pathogenesis.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2025Pooled it
- GJB6 missense variant in a Labrador Retriever with paw pad hyperkeratosis.Animal genetics · 2026Article
- A novel GJA3 mutation causing autosomal dominant congenital perinuclear cataracts.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Article
- Connexin-43 in Cancer: Above and Beyond Gap Junctions!Cancers · 2024Review
- A pore locus in the E1 domain differentially regulates Cx26 and Cx30 hemichannel function.The Journal of general physiology · 2024Article
- Modulatory Impact of Oxidative Stress on Action Potentials in Pathophysiological States: A Comprehensive Review.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Antibody-activation of connexin hemichannels in bone osteocytes with ATP release suppresses breast cancer and osteosarcoma malignancy.Cell reports · 2024Article
- Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Analysis of Connexin 43 as a Potential Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Human Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (KIRC).Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Control of astrocytic CaBiological research · 2024Article
- Article
- Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Permeation Through Connexin Channels.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Estradiol and 3β-diol protect female cortical astrocytes by regulating connexin 43 Gap Junctions.Molecular and cellular endocrinology · 2023Article
- Structures of wild-type and selected CMT1X mutant connexin 32 gap junction channels and hemichannels.Science advances · 2023Article
- Opening of Cx43-formed hemichannels mediates the CaBiology direct · 2023Article
- Understanding the Role of ATP Release through Connexins Hemichannels during Neurulation.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Boldine modulates glial transcription and functional recovery in a murine model of contusion spinal cord injury.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Article
- GJA1-20K Enhances Mitochondria Transfer from Astrocytes to Neurons via Cx43-TnTs After Traumatic Brain Injury.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2022Article
- Connexins, Pannexins and Gap Junctions in Perinatal Brain Injury.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Into the Tissues: Extracellular Matrix and Its Artificial Substitutes: Cell Signalling Mechanisms.Cells · 2022Review
- The Role of GJD2(Cx36) in Refractive Error Development.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2022Review
132 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cxs (connexins), the protein subunits forming gap junction intercellular communication channels, are transported to the plasma membrane after oligomerizing into hexameric assemblies called connexin hemichannels (CxHcs) or connexons, which dock head-to-head with partner hexameric channels positioned on neighbouring cells. The double membrane channel or gap junction generated directly couples the cytoplasms of interacting cells and underpins the integration and co-ordination of cellular metabolism, signalling and functions, such as secretion or contraction in cell assemblies. In contrast, CxHcs prior to forming gap junctions provide a pathway for the release from cells of ATP, glutamate, NAD+ and prostaglandin E2, which act as paracrine messengers. ATP activates purinergic receptors on neighbouring cells and forms the basis of intercellular Ca2+ signal propagation, complementing that occuring more directly via gap junctions. CxHcs open in response to various types of external changes, including mechanical, shear, ionic and ischaemic stress. In addition, CxHcs are influenced by intracellular signals, such as membrane potential, phosphorylation and redox status, which translate external stresses to CxHc responses. Also, recent studies demonstrate that cytoplasmic Ca2+ changes in the physiological range act to trigger CxHc opening, indicating their involvement under normal non-pathological conditions. CxHcs not only respond to cytoplasmic Ca2+, but also determine cytoplasmic Ca2+, as they are large conductance channels, suggesting a prominent role in cellular Ca2+ homoeostasis and signalling. The functions of gap-junction channels and CxHcs have been difficult to separate, but synthetic peptides that mimic short sequences in the Cx subunit are emerging as promising tools to determine the role of CxHcs in physiology and pathology.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.