Title: Communicating Junctions, Connexins and the Cardiomyocyte: From Cell Biology to Cardiology
Abstract: Communicating junctions, commonly known as gap junctions, comprise clusters of transmembrane channels that mediate electrical coupling between cardiomyocytes. The component proteins of these channels are termed connexins. Different combinations and relative quantities of three connexins—connexin43, connexin40 and connexin45—are expressed in different subsets of cardiomyocyte, providing potential for regional differentiation of electrophysiological properties. In the healthy heart, gap junction organization and spatially defined patterns of connexin expression form the cell-to-cell pathways for the flow of the precisely orchestrated patterns of electrical excitation that govern the normal heart rhythm. Remodeling of gap junction organization and connexin expression is a conspicuous feature of human heart disease in which there is an arrhythmic tendency. This remodeling may take the form of structural remodeling, involving disturbances in the distribution of gap junctions (i.e., disruption of the normal ordered pathways for cell-to-cell conduction), or remodeling of connexin expression, involving alteration in the amount or type of connexin(s) present. Most notable among quantitative alterations in connexin expression is a reduction in ventricular connexin43 levels in human congestive heart failure. By correlating data from studies in experimental animal models, gap junction and connexin remodeling emerges as a key factor to be considered in understanding the pro-arrhythmic substrate characteristic of many forms of heart disease.
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 3
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