Table 1.
Summary of the most recent progress in our understanding of connexin subtypes in growth and metastasis of various cancers
| Connexin | Cancer type | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cx43 | Breast | Different effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB231 in 2-D and 3-D cell cultures | [65] |
| Cx43 | Breast | Peptide ACT1 increase GJ and impairs cell proliferation/survival | [116] |
| Cx43 | Breast | CM from breast cancer cells decreases Cx43 gap junctions | [96] |
| Cx43 | Gastric cancer cells | Increase in diapedesis and transmigration through intercellular space between mesothelial cells | [90] |
| Cx43 | Mammalian cancer stem-like cells | miRNA-206 represses pro-apoptotic PDCD4 and Cx43 | [76] |
| Cx43 | Prostate | With Snail-1 to repress E-cadherin and promotes EMT, mobility and invasiveness | [88] |
| Cx43 | Prostate | Cx43 knockdown, not gap junctions inhibits migration/invasion of four prostate cancer cell lines | [98] |
| Cx43 | Osteosarcoma | miRNA-23a suppresses Cx43 | [77] |
| Cx43 | Neuroblastoma & glioma, leukemia | A direct link of Cx43 and CCN in anti-proliferative function | [67] |
| Cx43 | C6 glioma | Cx43 antibody in rats increases survival and even more with radiotherapy | [122] |
| Cx43 | Glioma | Cx43 increases resistance to TMZ via mitochondrial apoptosis pathway | [136] |
| Cx43 | Astrocytomas & glioblastomas | Increased Cx43 expression in human tumors | [125] |
| Cx43 | Brain metastasis | GJ with endothelial cells to promote metastatic lesion | [86] |
| Cx43 | Lung adenocarcinoma | Increased incidence by DMBA in Cx43 heterozygous knockout mice | [62] |
| Cx43 | Non-small Lung cancer | Cx43 reduction as a marker for cisplatin-chemotherapy | [132] |
| Cx43 | Non-small Lung cancer | Cx43 overexpression reverses EMT and cisplatin resistance and deletion has opposing effects | [134] |
| Cx43 | Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) | HCMV reduces Cx43 and gap junctions | [64] |
| Cx43 | GBM | Cx43 increased in TMZ-resistant cells by EGFR signaling | [135] |
| Cx43 | Mesothelioma | Increases sensitivity to sunitinib via interaction with Bax | [109] |
| Cx43 | Oral carcinoma | Cx43 correlates as a prognostic biomarker | [130] |
| Cx43 | HBV hepatocellular carcinoma | Cx43 expression correlates with early tumor recurrence and survival | [133] |
| Cx43 | Ras-transformed NIH-3 T3 cell | Cx43 5′ UTP active in transformed cell and 3′ UTP active in normal cell | [72] |
| Cx32 | Prostate | Increased by Vit.D3 and sensitizes cells to growth inhibition by Vit.D3 | [63] |
| Cx32 | Pancreatic and prostate cancer | Cx32 C-terminus required for growth and stability of gap junctions | [68] |
| Cx37 | Gastric tumors | Cx37 siRNA negatively correlated with cancer development and promotes apoptosis | [124] |
| Cx26 | Cervical cancer-HeLa | Redistribute cAMP and blocks cell cycle progression | [69] |
| Cx46 & Cx43 | Glioblastoma cancer stem cell | Cx46, not Cx43 is detected; During differentiation, Cx46 reduced and Cx43 increased | [126] |
| Cx30 & Cx43 | Breast | Cx30 deletion and mutation in human tumors; Cx30/Cx43 as potential prognostic markers | [128] |