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Published 1986 | public
Book Section - Chapter

Gap Junctions in Development

Abstract

The concept of a multicellular organism as an assemblage of cells that work together harmoniously for the good of the whole organism is well established. Over the past 15 years, however, it has become increasingly clear that the individual cells of multicellular animals are not as self-sufficient and independent of each other as once had been believed. Channels that exist between virtually all neighboring cells permit such widespread intercellular exchanges of low-molecular-weight materials that they must be considered syncytial with respect to small molecules. The specialized areas of the membrane that permit these exchanges are clusters of channels whose permeability is limited only by molecular size of the permeant (Simpson et al., 1977; Flagg-Newton et al., 1979), known collectively as gap junctions. Only in the case of molecules close to the exclusion limit can one detect selectivity (Brink and Dewey, 1980).

Additional Information

© 1986 Plenum Press. The work cited from the author's laboratory was supported by grants GM-06925 from the NIH, RR-07003 from the BRSG and the Ruddock Foundation.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
January 13, 2024