A gap junction or nexus is a specialized intercellular connection between a multitude of animal cell-types. It directly connects the cytoplasm of two cells, which allows various molecules and ions to pass freely between cells.
One gap junction channel is composed of two connexons (or hemichannels) which connect across the intercellular space. Gap junctions are analogous to the plasmodesmata that join plant cells.
Read more about Gap Junction: Structure, Levels of Organization, Properties of Connexon Channel Pairs, Occurrence and Distribution, Functions
Famous quotes containing the words gap and/or junction:
“... we may leisurely
Each one demand and answer to his part
Performed in this wide gap of time since
First we were dissevered.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)