GJA1 and cancer: Interestingly, recent studies have strongly suggested that GJA1 exerts diverse functions, in addition to gap junction formation, to control cellular migration and polarity via regulation of cytoskeleton components, such as actin filaments and microtubules, in various cell types, including cancer cells, neuronal progenitors, and cardiac neural crest cells (Matsuuchi and Naus, 2013; Rhee et al., 2009; Francis et al., 2011; Crespin et al., 2010).