Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

12-14-2023

Journal

Biomolecules

DOI

10.3390/biom13121796

PMID

38136665

PMCID

PMC10742173

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

12-14-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Fibrosis initially appears as a normal response to damage, where activated fibroblasts produce large amounts of the extracellular matrix (ECM) during the wound healing process to assist in the repair of injured tissue. However, the excessive accumulation of the ECM, unresolved by remodeling mechanisms, leads to organ dysfunction. Connexins, a family of transmembrane channel proteins, are widely recognized for their major roles in fibrosis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and wound healing. Efforts have been made in recent years to identify novel mediators and targets for this regulation. Connexins form gap junctions and hemichannels, mediating communications between neighboring cells and inside and outside of cells, respectively. Recent evidence suggests that connexins, beyond forming channels, possess channel-independent functions in fibrosis, the EMT, and wound healing. One crucial channel-independent function is their role as the primary functional component for cell adhesion. Other channel-independent functions of connexins involve their roles in mitochondria and exosomes. This review summarizes the latest advances in the channel-dependent and independent roles of connexins in fibrosis, the EMT, and wound healing, with a particular focus on eye diseases, emphasizing their potential as novel, promising therapeutic targets.

Keywords

Humans, Connexins, Gap Junctions, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Fibrosis, Membrane Proteins, Wound Healing, connexins, gap junctions, hemichannels, fibrosis, EMT, wound healing

Published Open-Access

yes

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