Gap Junction Protein Delta 2 (GJd2)

GJD2, also called connexin-36 (CX36) and formerly called GJA9, is a member of the connexin gene family that is expressed predominantly in mammalian neurons. Connexins associate in groups of 6 and are organized radially around a central pore to form connexons. Each gap junction intercellular channel is formed by the conjunction of 2 connexons. Belluardo et al. (1999) cloned the CX36 gene using degenerate PCR amplification of human DNA followed by PCR screening of a genomic library. The deduced 321-amino acid CX36 protein shares 98% amino acid identity with its mouse and rat homologs and 80% amino acid identity with the perch and skate ortholog, Cx35.