Background:
Gap junction protein that acts as a regulator of bladder capacity. A gap junction consists of a cluster of closely packed pairs of transmembrane channels, the connexons, through which materials of low MW diffuse from one cell to a neighboring cell. May play a critical role in the physiology of hearing by participating in the recycling of potassium to the cochlear endolymph. Negative regulator of bladder functional capacity: acts by enhancing intercellular electrical and chemical transmission, thus sensitizing bladder muscles to cholinergic neural stimuli and causing them to contract.