Janis M. Burt Professor Ph.D., University of California, Irvine Regulation of intercellular communication Research in my laboratory focuses on the contribution of gap junctions to the normal and abnormal behaviors of tissues in the cardiovascular system.
Gap junctions serve to coordinate tissue behaviors.
In the heart they mediate spread of electrical current, thereby coordinating contraction. In the vasculature they coordinate changes of vessel tone. We have tested the hypothesis that compromised function of gap junctions contributes to these abnormal tissue functions. The functional channel is composed of two hemichannels, one contributed by each cell. The hemichannels are composed of six subunits called connexins.