Journal
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES
Volume 1860, Issue 1, Pages 102-123Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2017.05.019
Keywords
Neuronal gap junctions; Mixed chemical/electrical synapses; Connexins; Cell localization; Ultrastructural diversity; Protein composition
Categories
Funding
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research [148545, 149072]
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [RGPIN/3861-2015]
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) [DC03186, DC011099, NS055726, NS085772, NS0552827, NS31027, NS44010, NS44395]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE [R01NS052827, R21NS085772, R01NS044010, R01NS044395, R21NS055726, R01NS080153, R56NS044395] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS [R01DC011099, R56DC003186, R01DC003186, R29DC003186] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Gap junctions provide the basis for electrical synapses between neurons. Early studies in well-defined circuits in lower vertebrates laid the foundation for understanding various properties conferred by electrical synaptic transmission. Knowledge surrounding electrical synapses in mammalian systems unfolded first with evidence indicating the presence of gap junctions between neurons in various brain regions, but with little appreciation of their functional roles. Beginning at about the turn of this century, new approaches were applied to scrutinize electrical synapses, revealing the prevalence of neuronal gap junctions, the connexin protein composition of many of those junctions, and the myriad diverse neural systems in which they occur in the mammalian CNS. Subsequent progress indicated that electrical synapses constitute key elements in synaptic circuitry, govern the collective activity of ensembles of electrically coupled neurons, and in part orchestrate the synchronized neuronal network activity and rhythmic oscillations that underlie fundamental integrative processes. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Gap Junction Proteins edited by Jean Claude Herve. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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