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Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches
Gap junctions are channels that physically connect adjacent cells, mediating the rapid exchange of small molecules, and playing an essential role in a wide range of physiological processes in nearly every system in the body, including the nervous system. Thus, altered function of gap junctions has b...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6156252/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30283305 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00320 |
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author | Dong, Ao Liu, Simin Li, Yulong |
author_facet | Dong, Ao Liu, Simin Li, Yulong |
author_sort | Dong, Ao |
collection | PubMed |
description | Gap junctions are channels that physically connect adjacent cells, mediating the rapid exchange of small molecules, and playing an essential role in a wide range of physiological processes in nearly every system in the body, including the nervous system. Thus, altered function of gap junctions has been linked with a plethora of diseases and pathological conditions. Being able to measure and characterize the distribution, function, and regulation of gap junctions in intact tissue is therefore essential for understanding the physiological and pathophysiological roles that gap junctions play. In recent decades, several robust in vitro and in vivo methods have been developed for detecting and characterizing gap junctions. Here, we review the currently available methods with respect to invasiveness, signal-to-noise ratio, temporal resolution and others, highlighting the recently developed chemical tracers and hybrid imaging systems that use novel chemical compounds and/or genetically encoded enzymes, transporters, channels, and fluorescent proteins in order to map gap junctions. Finally, we discuss possible avenues for further improving existing techniques in order to achieve highly sensitive, cell type-specific, non-invasive measures of in vivo gap junction function with high throughput and high spatiotemporal resolution. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6156252 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-61562522018-10-03 Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches Dong, Ao Liu, Simin Li, Yulong Front Cell Neurosci Cellular Neuroscience Gap junctions are channels that physically connect adjacent cells, mediating the rapid exchange of small molecules, and playing an essential role in a wide range of physiological processes in nearly every system in the body, including the nervous system. Thus, altered function of gap junctions has been linked with a plethora of diseases and pathological conditions. Being able to measure and characterize the distribution, function, and regulation of gap junctions in intact tissue is therefore essential for understanding the physiological and pathophysiological roles that gap junctions play. In recent decades, several robust in vitro and in vivo methods have been developed for detecting and characterizing gap junctions. Here, we review the currently available methods with respect to invasiveness, signal-to-noise ratio, temporal resolution and others, highlighting the recently developed chemical tracers and hybrid imaging systems that use novel chemical compounds and/or genetically encoded enzymes, transporters, channels, and fluorescent proteins in order to map gap junctions. Finally, we discuss possible avenues for further improving existing techniques in order to achieve highly sensitive, cell type-specific, non-invasive measures of in vivo gap junction function with high throughput and high spatiotemporal resolution. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-09-19 /pmc/articles/PMC6156252/ /pubmed/30283305 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00320 Text en Copyright © 2018 Dong, Liu and Li. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Cellular Neuroscience Dong, Ao Liu, Simin Li, Yulong Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches |
title | Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches |
title_full | Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches |
title_fullStr | Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches |
title_full_unstemmed | Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches |
title_short | Gap Junctions in the Nervous System: Probing Functional Connections Using New Imaging Approaches |
title_sort | gap junctions in the nervous system: probing functional connections using new imaging approaches |
topic | Cellular Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6156252/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30283305 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00320 |
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