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A plasma membrane part that forms a specialized region of connection between two cells or between a cell and the extracellular matrix. At a cell junction, anchoring proteins extend through the plasma membrane to link cytoskeletal proteins in one cell to cytoskeletal proteins in neighboring cells or to proteins in the extracellular matrix. A cell junction that forms a connection between two cells; excludes direct cytoplasmic junctions such as ring canals. A cell-cell junction that is composed of an array of small channels that permit small molecules to pass from one cell to another. At gap junctions, the membranes of two adjacent cells are separated by a uniform narrow gap of about 2-4 nm that is spanned by channel-forming proteins called connexins, which form hexagonal tubes called connexons. An assembly of six molecules of connexin, made in the Golgi apparatus and subsequently transported to the plasma membrane, where docking of two connexons on apposed plasma membranes across the extracellular space forms a gap junction.

View Gene Ontology (GO) Term

GO TERM SUMMARY
Name: gap junction
Acc: GO:0005921
Aspect: Cellular Component
Desc: A cell-cell junction that is composed of an array of small channels that permit small molecules to pass from one cell to another. At gap junctions, the membranes of two adjacent cells are separated by a uniform narrow gap of about 2-4 nm that is spanned by channel-forming proteins called connexins, which form hexagonal tubes called connexons.
Synonyms:
  • macula communicans
  • zonula communicans
  • communicating junction
Proteins in PDR annotated with:
   This term: 104 [Search]
   Term or descendants: 115 [Search]


[geneontology.org]
INTERACTIVE GO GRAPH

GO:0005921 - gap junction (interactive image map)
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