Docked Cx43-containing transport vesicles Connexin 43 hemi-channel microtubule Insertion of connexons into the plasma membrane resulting in the formation of hemi-channels Authored: Gilleron, J, Segretain, D, Falk, MM, 2007-01-03 12:23:09 Edited: Matthews, L, 2007-04-12 12:59:16 Hemi-channels appear to play a role in isosmotic cell volume regulation (Quist et al., 2000), in apoptosis regulation (Contreras et al. 2002; John et al. 1999), and in the differentiation of different cell types (Boucher and Bennett 2003). Individual connexons have been observed dispersed around gap junction plaques. This observation suggests that there is a pool of connexons dispersed in the plasma membrane which can migrate to gap junction plaques (Benedetti et al. 2000; Hulser et al. 1997; Lauf et al. 2002; Gaietta et al. 2002). Insertion of a connexon into the cell membrane results in the formation of a hemi-channel. This channel permits direct exchanges between cell cytoplasm and extracellular matrix (Figure 3). Freeze-fracture electron microscopy studies have revealed that cytoplasmic vesicles can fuse with the plasma membrane to permit connexon insertion (Shivers and Bowman 1985). Pubmed10704454 Pubmed11001494 Pubmed11756680 Pubmed11964472 Pubmed12149451 Pubmed12692906 Pubmed15033576 Pubmed1680869 Pubmed3999183 Pubmed9194487 Pubmed9867835 Reactome Database ID Release 43190877 Reactome, http://www.reactome.org ReactomeREACT_10004