Connexons form the basis of hemichannels and gap junctions. They are composed of six tetraspan proteins called connexins. Connexons can function as individual hemichannels, releasing cytosolic factors ...

Twenty-week-old male SHR and WKY rats were used in this study. All protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the Medical College of Shihezi University and ...

The emergence of gap junctions is a hallmark in the evolution of life from single-cell to multicellular organisms. For the first time, they enabled true social interactions between cells by allowing ...

Top row: The cryo-ET averages of the gap junction channels (left) revealed striking caps (right; purple) on the inside of the cell. Bottom row: The gap junctions (light blue) allow cells to ...