Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Dec 29;23(1):379. doi: 10.3390/ijms23010379.
Pulmonary hypertension is a serious clinical condition characterised by increased pulmonary arterial pressure. This can lead to right ventricular failure which can be fatal. Connexins are gap junction-forming membrane proteins which serve to exchange small molecules of less than 1 kD between cells. Connexins can also form hemi-channels connecting the intracellular and extracellular environments. Hemi-channels can mediate adenosine triphosphate release and are involved in autocrine and paracrine signalling. Recently, our group and others have identified evidence that connexin-mediated signalling may be involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension. In this review, we discuss the evidence that dysregulated connexin-mediated signalling is associated with pulmonary hypertension.
肺动脉高压是一种以肺动脉压力升高为特征的严重临床病症。这可能导致右心室衰竭，从而危及生命。连接蛋白是形成缝隙连接的膜蛋白，用于在细胞之间交换小于 1kD 的小分子。连接蛋白还可以形成连接细胞内外环境的半通道。半通道可以介导三磷酸腺苷的释放，并参与自分泌和旁分泌信号转导。最近，我们小组和其他小组已经发现证据表明，连接蛋白介导的信号转导可能参与肺动脉高压的发病机制。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了失调的连接蛋白介导的信号转导与肺动脉高压相关的证据。
