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gap junctions

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.10 sec.
gap junctions
regions of high and special ionic permeability between closely apposed cells. They are places at which cells exchange molecules of large size and provide an avenue by which developing cells can influence each other. Called also nexus.

neuronal gap junctions
very tight contacts between some neurons permitting the almost instant transmission of impulses from one neuron to the other; structural elements extend across the gap conferring a continuity of cytoplasm between the cells.


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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Gap junctions are specialized membrane proteins that regulate the passage of small molecules, ions, and electrical current between neighboring cells.
The two researchers discovered that cell-to-cell portals known as gap junctions are required for proper left-right patterning.
Cell-to-cell communication channels called gap junctions appear to play a role in causing mutations in bystander cells.
 
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