GJA1 and hereditary disease: Mutations of Cx43 are associated with arrhythmias, oculodentodigital dysplasia, and other genetic disorders, and alterations in Cx43 expression and function play important roles in the pathophysiology of frequent medical problems such as those related to cardiac and brain ischemia as well as wound healing in diabetes (Solan and Lampe, 2009; Eugenin et al., 2012; Marquez-Rosado et al., 2012; Orellana et al., 2012; Churko and Laird, 2013; Giaume et al., 2013).