Gap junctions form intercellular channels that electrochemically couple adjacent cells to spread resting and action potentials, mediate cell-cell biochemical signaling, and synchronize cell activity. In addition, undocked gap junction hemichannels can mediate depolarization and the passage of signals between cytoplasm and interstitium. Connexins – the constituent proteins of gap junctions in mammals – critically regulate a variety of complex processes during development and in disease, including cell proliferation, migration, and stem cell differentiation.

This Special Issue will focus on how connexins regulate cell and tissue function by serving as cell-cell conduits of bioelectrical phenomena in healthy organ systems, as well as how these events might be altered in pathological states. Articles will explore the role of gap junctions as intercellular channels alongside growing evidence of channel-independent signal regulation, with additional consideration for how gap junctions can be novel targets for therapeutic interventions.

The guest editors would welcome original research articles, reviews, perspectives, technical notes and protocols that report on recent advances in the field. Areas of interest include, but are not restricted to:

• Mechanisms of gap junction channel gating and permeability

• Heteromeric and heterotypic gap junction channel properties

• Upstream regulators of gap junctions

• Channel-dependent and/or -independent gap junction-mediated cell signaling

• Role(s) of gap junctions in tissue development in normal (e.g., morphogenesis and embryogenesis) and diseased (e.g., wound healing, cancer) states.

• Role(s) of hemichannels

• Non-mammalian gap junctions (e.g. innexins)

• Analogous intercellular communication in plants

Contributions will receive prompt and thorough peer review. Please refer to our Instructions for Authors at www.liebertpub.com/bioe before submitting your manuscript for consideration. Also, before submitting, authors would be welcome to discuss their ideas directly with Guest Editors Dr. Jose F. Ek Vitorin and Dr. Jennifer S. Fang.

Early submissions will receive prompt and thorough peer-review; accepted manuscripts will be published as e-pub ahead of print when-ready.