In our body, all the cells are constantly sharing chemical and electrical information with other cells. This intercellular communication allows them to respond in a concerted way to changes in the extracellular milieu. Connexins are transmembrane proteins that have the particularity of forming two types of channels; hemichannels and gap junction channels. Under normal conditions, hemichannels allow the controlled release of signaling molecules to the extracellular milieu. However, under certain pathological conditions, over-activated hemichannels can induce and/or exacerbate symptoms. In the last decade, great efforts have been put into developing new tools that can modulate these over-activated hemichannels. Small molecules, antibodies and mimetic peptides have shown a potential for the treatment of human diseases. In this review, we summarize recent findings in the field of hemichannel modulation via specific tools, and how these tools could improve patient outcome in certain pathological conditions.

在我们体内，所有细胞都在不断地与其他细胞共享化学和电信息。这种细胞间通讯使它们能够以一致的方式对细胞外环境的变化做出反应。连接蛋白是跨膜蛋白，具有形成两种通道的特殊性；半通道和间隙连接通道。在正常条件下，半通道允许将信号分子受控释放到细胞外环境。然而，在某些病理条件下，过度激活的半通道会诱发和/或加剧症状。在过去的十年中，人们付出了巨大的努力来开发可以调节这些过度激活的半通道的新工具。小分子、抗体和模拟肽已显示出治疗人类疾病的潜力。在这次审查中，