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Connexins and Conduction

  • Chapter
Molecular Genetics of Cardiac Electrophysiology

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 231))

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Abstract

The heart is not a true electrical syncytium. Rather, cardiac muscle is composed of individual cells each invested with an insulating lipid bilayer that would effectively prevent intercellular current flux were there not specialized cell-cell junctions to serve this purpose. In the heart, ions flow from one cell to another via gap junctions, specialized regions of the sarcolemma containing transmembrane channels that adjoin in the extracellular space to create aqueous pores that directly link the cytoplasmic compartments of neighboring cells. A gap junction consists of an array of tens to thousands of closely packed channels that permit intercellular passage of ions and small molecules up to ~1 kDa in molecular weight. Ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, gap junctions facilitate intercellular exchange of molecular information in virtually all multicellular tissues. They form during the earliest stages of embryonic development and are thought to play important roles in the spread of morphogens, signaling molecules and ions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Center for Cardiovascular Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA

    Deborah L. Lerner M.D. & Jeffrey E. Saffitz M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Deborah L. Lerner M.D.
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  2. Jeffrey E. Saffitz M.D., Ph.D.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Children’s Hospital, Boston, USA

    Charles I. Berul M.D.

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02115, MA, USA

    Charles I. Berul M.D.

  3. Departments of Pediatrics (Cardiology), Molecular and Human Genetics, Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, 77030, TX, USA

    Jeffrey A. Towbin M.D.

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Lerner, D.L., Saffitz, J.E. (2000). Connexins and Conduction. In: Berul, C.I., Towbin, J.A. (eds) Molecular Genetics of Cardiac Electrophysiology. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 231. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4517-0_5

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