Gap Junction Protein Alpha 9 (GJa9)

Connexins, such as GJA9, are involved in the formation of gap junctions, intercellular conduits that directly connect the cytoplasms of contacting cells. Each gap junction channel is formed by docking of 2 hemichannels, each of which contains 6 connexin subunits.By database analysis and PCR of human genomic DNA, Sohl et al. (2003) cloned GJA9, which they called CX59. Northern blot analysis detected highest expression of 3.2- and 2.6-kb CX59 transcripts in skeletal muscle, with lower expression in heart and testis. Sohl et al. (2003) stated that there is no CX59 ortholog in mouse. Hartz (2008) mapped the GJA9 gene to chromosome 1p34.3 based on an alignment of the GJA9 sequence with the genomic sequence (build 36.1).