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Cardiovascular Research 2000 45(4):807-809; doi:10.1016/S0008-6363(99)00421-6
© 2000 by European Society of Cardiology
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Copyright © 2000, European Society of Cardiology

Closing the gap in understanding the regulation of intercellular communication

Jeffrey E Saffitz* and Kathryn A Yamada

The Center for Cardiovascular Research, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA

* Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Pathology, Box 8118, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. Tel.: +1-314-362-7728; fax: +1-314-362-4096 saffitz@pathology.wustl.edu

Received 9 December 1999; accepted 9 December 1999

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

See article by Van Rijen et al. [2] (pages 941–951) in this issue.

Of the various ways that cells ‘talk’ to one another, intercellular communication via gap junctions is certainly the most direct. Composed of arrays of densely packed channels that link the cytoplasmic compartments of neighboring cells, gap junctions provide a direct route by which cells can exchange ions and small molecules (up to ~1 kDa in mass) [1]. Different patterns and distributions of gap junctions between like and disparate cell types may create both preferential communication pathways and communication boundaries within a tissue or organ. In the heart, gap junctions are responsible for intercellular transfer of current and, thus, control the precise spatiotemporal pattern of electrical activation to coordinate the contractile activities of individual cells and ensure effective pump function.

Gap junctional coupling has traditionally been regarded as a ‘passive’ electrophysiological property of heart muscle which, like . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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