Answer
This form of regulation prevents damage to the surrounding cells, meaning that the illness is contained to one cell and will not spread to the rest in the tissue.
Work Step by Step
The gap junction can close at any point in time should it detect an injured cell. In the instance of a cell being leaky or injured, ion Ca2+ rushes into the cell. The presence of this ion causes the gap junction to close, so the damage does not spread to the other cells. If the cell was not isolated by the influx of Ca2+ the damage would spread to the other cells with no regulation, and would thus affect the tissue. If only one cell is affected, the damage can be controlled.
However, if numerous cells are affected with no signs of stopping the spread of the damage, the tissue itself will be damaged as it is a culmination of the now injured cells.
