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Cloning and functional expression of invertebrate connexins from Halocynthia pyriformis
Author(s) -
White Thomas W.,
Wang Huan,
Mui Rickie,
Litteral Jennifer,
Brink Peter R.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.09.071
Subject(s) - connexin , biology , chordate , pannexin , vertebrate , gene , gap junction , intron , arthropod , cloning (programming) , invertebrate , conserved sequence , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , peptide sequence , ecology , intracellular , computer science , programming language
Unlike many other ion channels, unrelated gene families encode gap junctions in different animal phyla. Connexin and pannexin genes are found in deuterostomes, while protostomal species use innexin genes. Connexins are often described as vertebrate genes, despite the existence of invertebrate deuterostomes. We have cloned connexin sequences from an invertebrate chordate, Halocynthia pyriformis . Invertebrate connexins shared 25–40% sequence identity with human connexins, had extracellular domains containing six invariant cysteine residues, coding regions that were interrupted by introns, and formed functional channels in vitro. These data show that gap junction channels based on connexins are present in animals that predate vertebrate evolution.