Bond Stephen R, Naus Christian C
Genome Technology Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD, USA ; Department of Cellular and Physiological Science, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Department of Cellular and Physiological Science, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Front Physiol. 2014 Feb 19;5:58. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00058. eCollection 2014.
The pannexins (Panxs) are a family of chordate proteins homologous to the invertebrate gap junction forming proteins named innexins. Three distinct Panx paralogs (Panx1, Panx2, and Panx3) are shared among the major vertebrate phyla, but they appear to have suppressed (or even lost) their ability to directly couple adjacent cells. Connecting the intracellular and extracellular compartments is now widely accepted as Panx's primary function, facilitating the passive movement of ions and small molecules along electrochemical gradients. The tissue distribution of the Panxs ranges from pervasive to very restricted, depending on the paralog, and are often cell type-specific and/or developmentally regulated within any given tissue. In recent years, Panxs have been implicated in an assortment of physiological and pathophysiological processes, particularly with respect to ATP signaling and inflammation, and they are now considered to be a major player in extracellular purinergic communication. The following is a comprehensive review of the Panx literature, exploring the historical events leading up to their discovery, outlining our current understanding of their biochemistry, and describing the importance of these proteins in health and disease.
泛连接蛋白（Panxs）是一类与无脊椎动物中形成间隙连接的蛋白（称为连接蛋白）同源的脊索动物蛋白。在主要的脊椎动物门类中共享三种不同的Panx旁系同源物（Panx1、Panx2和Panx3），但它们似乎已经抑制（甚至丧失）了直接连接相邻细胞的能力。连接细胞内和细胞外区室现在已被广泛认为是Panx的主要功能，促进离子和小分子沿电化学梯度的被动移动。根据旁系同源物的不同，Panxs的组织分布范围从普遍存在到非常有限，并且在任何给定组织内通常具有细胞类型特异性和/或受发育调控。近年来，Panxs已被证明参与了各种生理和病理生理过程，特别是在ATP信号传导和炎症方面，并且它们现在被认为是细胞外嘌呤能通讯中的主要参与者。以下是对Panx文献的全面综述，探讨导致其发现的历史事件，概述我们目前对其生物化学的理解，并描述这些蛋白在健康和疾病中的重要性。
