INSERM U 1065, University Nice Sophia Antipolis, Team 5, C3M, 151 route Saint-Antoine de Ginestière, France.
Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2012 Sep;47(5):407-23. doi: 10.3109/10409238.2012.683482. Epub 2012 May 3.
Connexins, through gap junctional intercellular communication, are known to regulate many physiological functions involved in developmental processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis. Strikingly, alterations of connexin expression and trafficking are often, if not always, associated with human developmental diseases and carcinogenesis. In this respect, disrupted trafficking dynamics and aberrant intracytoplasmic localization of connexins are considered as typical features of functionality failure leading to the pathological state. Recent findings demonstrate that interactions of connexins with numerous protein partners, which take place throughout connexin trafficking, are essential for gap junction formation, membranous stabilization and degradation. In the present study, we give an overview of the physiological molecular machinery and of the specific interactions between connexins and their partners, which are involved in connexin trafficking, and we highlight their changes in pathological situations.
间隙连接蛋白通过缝隙连接细胞间通讯，已知可调节许多生理功能，如细胞增殖、分化、迁移和凋亡。值得注意的是，连接蛋白表达和运输的改变通常（如果不是总是）与人类发育性疾病和癌发生有关。在这方面，连接蛋白运输动力学的破坏和细胞内定位的异常被认为是导致病理状态的功能衰竭的典型特征。最近的研究结果表明，连接蛋白与许多蛋白伴侣的相互作用发生在连接蛋白运输的整个过程中，对于间隙连接的形成、膜的稳定和降解是必不可少的。在本研究中，我们概述了参与连接蛋白运输的生理分子机制和连接蛋白与其伴侣之间的特定相互作用，并强调了它们在病理情况下的变化。
