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Gap Junctions

Gap Junctions

The cytoplasm of adjacent animal cells can exchange small molecules, ions, and secondary messengers via the communication channels which form the gap junctions. These junctions comprise a few hundred to thousands of molecular channels, each made of two halves, called the connexon hemichannel. A connexon is a hexamer of six transmembrane connexin proteins, which assemble radially, thus forming a pore or channel in the center. One connexon hemichannel docks with a corresponding connexon on the...

Gap Junctions

Gap Junctions

Multicellular organisms employ a variety of ways for cells to communicate with each other. Gap junctions are specialized proteins that form pores between neighboring cells in animals, connecting the cytoplasm between the two, and allowing for the exchange of molecules and ions. They are found in a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate species, mediate numerous functions including cell differentiation and development, and are associated with numerous human diseases, including cardiac and...

Feedback Regulation of Calcium Concentration

Feedback Regulation of Calcium Concentration

Calcium is an essential signaling molecule required for various cellular functions. Calcium pumps and ion channels on cell and organellar membranes, such as those on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), regulate calcium concentrations inside the cell. They remain closed, keeping the cytosolic calcium levels low at a resting state.
Various transmembrane receptors, such as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), elicit a response to extracellular signals by increasing cytosolic calcium. Activated GPCRs...

Overview of Cell-Matrix Interactions

Overview of Cell-Matrix Interactions

The extracellular matrix or ECM holds cells together to form a tissue and allows the cells within the tissue to communicate. ECM comprises proteins such as fibronectin, collagen, laminin, etc. The most abundant protein in this space is collagen. Collagen fibers are interwoven with carbohydrate-containing protein molecules called proteoglycans. ECM allows cell migration and provides a structural scaffold at cell adhesion that anchors the cell when the extracellular matrix proteins interact with...

Contact-dependent Signaling

Contact-dependent Signaling

Contact-dependent signaling, as the name suggests, requires that communicating cells be in direct contact with each other. This is achieved either through receptor-ligand interactions or by specialized cytoplasmic channels that allow the flow of small molecules between cells. In animal cells, channels called gap junctions facilitate contact-dependent signaling in certain tissues, whereas, plasmodesmata perform a similar function in plants.
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...

Electrical Synapses

Electrical Synapses

Electrical synapses found in all nervous systems play important and unique roles. In these synapses, the presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes are very close together (3.5 nm) and are actually physically connected by channel proteins forming gap junctions.
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells

Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells

Published on: July 16, 2013

Intercellular calcium waves in the fire-diffuse-fire framework: Green's function for gap-junctional coupling.

Jamie Harris¹, Yulia Timofeeva

¹Complexity Science Doctoral Training Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. jamie.harris@warwick.ac.uk

Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

|January 15, 2011

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study models intercellular calcium waves, a key cellular communication method. The fire-diffuse-fire model provides insights into wave propagation and speed, crucial for understanding cell signaling.

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Single-cell Microinjection for Cell Communication Analysis

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Mechanical Stimulation-induced Calcium Wave Propagation in Cell Monolayers: The Example of Bovine Corneal Endothelial Cells

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Single-cell Microinjection for Cell Communication Analysis

Single-cell Microinjection for Cell Communication Analysis

Published on: February 26, 2017

Area of Science:

Biophysics
Cellular Biology
Computational Neuroscience

Background:

Calcium ions (Ca2+) are vital for cellular processes including cell proliferation and apoptosis.
Intercellular calcium waves facilitate communication across cell tissues, but their propagation dynamics are complex.
Existing models often lack the biophysical realism needed to capture wave behavior in connected cells.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a biophysically realistic model for intercellular calcium wave propagation.
To analyze the dynamics and speed of these waves using a novel computational approach.
To provide an analytical framework for understanding calcium signaling in linear, connected cellular systems.

Main Methods:

Utilized a fire-diffuse-fire model for calcium dynamics with discretely distributed release sites.
Developed a generalized "sum-over-trips" formalism to handle gap junction boundary conditions.
Derived an exact Green's function solution in the Laplace domain for an infinite array of cells.

Main Results:

Obtained an analytical traveling wave solution for intercellular calcium waves.
Demonstrated that the Green's function can be approximated by a truncated version for practical analysis.
Analyzed solitary wave propagation speed as a function of physiological parameters.

Conclusions:

The proposed model accurately describes intercellular calcium wave propagation.
The "sum-over-trips" formalism offers a powerful tool for analyzing complex signaling pathways.
The model supports the existence of periodic and irregular traveling calcium waves, expanding our understanding of cellular communication.