1.A.24.1.3
Heteromeric connexin (Cx)32/Cx26) (transports cAMP, cGMP and all inositol phosphates with 1-4 esterified phosphate groups (homomeric Cx26(β2) or homomeric Cx32 do not transport the inositol phosphates as well) (Ayad et al., 2006). The GJB2 gene encodes connexin 26, the protein involved in cell-cell attachment in many tissues. GJB2 mutations cause autosomal recessive (DFNB1) and sometimes dominant (DFNA3) non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss as well as various skin disease phenotypes (Iossa et al., 2011). TMS1 regulates oligomerization and function (Jara et al., 2012).  The carboxyl tail pg Cx32 regulates gap junction assembly (Katoch et al. 2015).  In Cx46, neutralization of negative charges or addition of positive charge in the Cx26 equivalent region reduced the slow gate voltage dependence. In Cx50 the addition of a glutamate in the same region decreased the voltage dependence and the neutralization of a negative charge increased it. Thus, the charges at the end of TMS1 are part of the slow gate voltage sensor in Cxs. The fact that Cx42, which has no charge in this region, still presents voltage dependent slow gating suggests that charges still unidentified also contribute to the slow gate voltage sensitivity (Pinto et al. 2016).  Syndromic deafness mutations at Asn14 alter the open stability of Cx26 hemichannels (Sanchez et al. 2016). The Leu89Pro substitution in the second TMS of CX32 disrupts the trafficking of the protein, inhibiting the assembly of CX32 gap junctions, which in turn may result in peripheral neuropathy (Da et al. 2016).  Cx26 mutants that promote cell death or exert transdominant effects on other connexins in keratinocytes lead to skin diseases and hearing loss, whereas mutants having reduced channel function without aberrant effects on coexpressed connexins cause only hearing loss (Press et al. 2017). When challenged by a field of 0.06 V/nm, the Cx26 hemichannel relaxed toward a novel configuration characterized by a widened pore and an increased bending of the second TMS at the level of the conserved Pro87. A point mutation that inhibited such a transition impeded hemichannel opening in electrophysiology and dye uptake experiments.  Thus, the Cx26 hemichannel uses a global degree of freedom to transit between different configuration states, which may be shared among all connexins (Zonta et al. 2018). A group of human mutations within the N-terminal (NT) domain of connexin 26 hemichannels produce aberrant channel activity, which gives rise to deafness and skin disorders, including keratitis-ichthyosis-deafness (KID) syndrome. Structural and functional studies indicate that the NT domain of connexin hemichannels is folded into the pore, where it plays important roles in permeability and gating. The mutation, N14K disrupts cytosolic intersubunit interactions and promotes channel opening (Valdez Capuccino et al. 2018). A missense mutation in the Connexin 26 gene is associated with autosomal recessive sensorineural deafness (Leshinsky-Silver et al. 2005).