TY - JOUR
T1 - New roles for astrocytes
T2 - Gap junction hemichannels have something to communicate
AU - Bennett, Michael V.L.
AU - Contreras, Jorge E.
AU - Bukauskas, Feliksas F.
AU - Sáez, Juan C.
N1 - Funding Information:
Our research is partially funded by grants from the National Institute for Health (NS45837 to M.V.L.B. and NS36706 to F.F.B.), from the F.M. Kirby Foundation Program in Neuroprotection and Repair, and from Fondo Nacional para el Desarrollo de Ciencia y Tecnologı́a (FONDECYT 1030945 to J.C.S.). M.V.L.B. is the Sylvie and Robert S. Olnick Professor of Neuroscience.
PY - 2003/11
Y1 - 2003/11
N2 - Gap junctions are clusters of aqueous channels that connect the cytoplasm of adjoining cells. Each cell contributes a hemichannel, or connexon, to each cell-cell channel. The cell-cell channels are permeable to relatively large molecules, and it was thought that opening of hemichannels to the extracellular space would kill cells through loss of metabolites, collapse of ionic gradients and influx of Ca2+. Recent findings indicate that specific non-junctional hemichannels do open under both physiological and pathological conditions, and that opening is functional or deleterious depending on the situation. Most of these studies utilized cells in tissue culture that expressed a specific gap junction protein, connexin 43. Several such examples are reviewed here, with a particular focus on astrocytes.
AB - Gap junctions are clusters of aqueous channels that connect the cytoplasm of adjoining cells. Each cell contributes a hemichannel, or connexon, to each cell-cell channel. The cell-cell channels are permeable to relatively large molecules, and it was thought that opening of hemichannels to the extracellular space would kill cells through loss of metabolites, collapse of ionic gradients and influx of Ca2+. Recent findings indicate that specific non-junctional hemichannels do open under both physiological and pathological conditions, and that opening is functional or deleterious depending on the situation. Most of these studies utilized cells in tissue culture that expressed a specific gap junction protein, connexin 43. Several such examples are reviewed here, with a particular focus on astrocytes.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.tins.2003.09.008
DO - 10.1016/j.tins.2003.09.008
M3 - Review article
C2 - 14585601
AN - SCOPUS:0242380301
SN - 0166-2236
VL - 26
SP - 610
EP - 617
JO - Trends in Neurosciences
JF - Trends in Neurosciences
IS - 11
ER -