The impact of Panx1 on inflammation, immunity, and cancer: A comprehensive review

Bravo, Francisco; Mena, Javier; Mejía-Reyes, Ángel; Schafer-Adriazola, Carolina; Núñez-Rojas, Nelly; Blamey-Fredes, Cristopher; Acuña-Castillo, Claudio; Barrera-Avalos, Carlos

doi:10.3389/fmed.2025.1572418

REVIEW article

Front. Med.

Sec. Precision Medicine

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1572418

This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Connexin-Based Biomarkers and Therapeutics for Disease Diagnosis and TreatmentView all 3 articles

The impact of Panx1 on inflammation, immunity, and cancer: A comprehensive review

Provisionally accepted

Francisco Bravo¹

Javier Mena¹

Ángel Mejía-Reyes¹

Carolina Schafer-Adriazola¹

Nelly Núñez-Rojas¹

Cristopher Blamey-Fredes¹

Claudio Acuña-Castillo^1,2

Carlos Barrera-Avalos^1*

¹Centro de Biotecnología Acuícola, Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
²Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Pannexin 1 (Panx1) is a widely expressed membrane channel that regulates ATP release and purinergic signaling, playing essential roles in inflammation, immunity, and tumor progression. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of its structure, activation mechanisms, and its functional relevance in both innate and adaptive immunity. Panx1 has been implicated in inflammasome activation, neutrophil and dendritic cell regulation, and modulation of immune responses against infections, including SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, Panx1 plays a dual role in tumor progression, acting either as a promoter or a suppressor depending on the cellular and microenvironmental context. Pharmacological inhibition of Panx1 has shown therapeutic benefits in preclinical models of inflammatory, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases, establishing it as a promising and versatile therapeutic target. This review underscores the need for further research into Panx1's molecular mechanisms and the development of targeted interventions to effectively address inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with precision and efficacy.

Keywords: Pannexin-1 (Panx1), purinergic signaling, Inflammation and immunity, Tumor Microenvironment, Panx1-Based Therapies

Received: 07 Feb 2025; Accepted: 06 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Bravo, Mena, Mejía-Reyes, Schafer-Adriazola, Núñez-Rojas, Blamey-Fredes, Acuña-Castillo and Barrera-Avalos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Carlos Barrera-Avalos, Centro de Biotecnología Acuícola, Facultad de Química y Biología, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile

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