To further investigate the involvement of Cx43-mediated gap junctional intercellular communication in the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines by changed T-cells subsets during hypertension, cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes from SHRs and WKY rats were treated with Con A for 24 h or pretreated with the Cx43 mimetic peptide Gap27 for 48 h and then with Con A for 24 h. The gene discussed is GJA1; the disease is hypertensive disorder.