8.A.129.  The Blood Vessel Epicardial Substance (BVES) Family 

BVES os a cell adhesion molecule involved in the establishment and/or maintenance of cell integrity, and the formation and regulation of the tight junction (TJ) paracellular permeability barrier in epithelial cells (Osler et al. 2005). It also plays a role in VAMP3-mediated vesicular transport and recycling of different receptor molecules through its interaction with VAMP3. It induces primordial adhesive contact and aggregation of epithelial cells in a Ca²⁺-independent manner and is involved in striated muscle regeneration and repair, and in the regulation of cell spreading. It plays a regulatory function in heart rate dynamics mediated, at least in part, through cAMP-binding and, probably, by increasing cell surface expression of the potassium channel KCNK2 while enhancing current density (Schindler et al. 2016).