The Gap Junction

Intercellular communication is necessary in complex, differentiated organisms to coordinate the activities, differentiation and growth of the component cells. Two forms of cell-cell communication contribute to this coordination in metazoan animals. One form involves the secretion by cells of signal substances (e.g. neuro­ transmitters, hormones, growth factors) into the extracellular fluids. Target cells, which may be immediately adjacent or in some distant tissue, respond appropriately if they have the right receptors. The other form of communication operates within the limiting plasma membranes of groups of cells coupled into integrated units by specialized junctions. These junctions are essentially sieve-like structures that permit free diffusion through all the coupled cytoplasms, of low molecular weight, watersoluble components. They are ubiquitous structures; all cells of metazoan animals appear to form these junctions, though in a few special cases they are lost in the terminal stages of differentiation. From their appearance in electron micrographs, these structures have been termed gap junctions.

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