Three integral membrane proteins, clau- din-1, -2, and occludin, are known to be components of tight junction (TJ) strands. To examine their ability to form TJ strands, their cDNAs were introduced into mouse L fibroblasts lacking TJs. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that both FLAG-tagged claudin-1 and -2 were highly concentrated at cell contact sites as planes through a homophilic intera...

This study examines the regulating effect of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) on the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in cerebral ischemia. By employing permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) model, we find that Shh significantly decreases brain edema and preserves BBB permeability. Moreover, Shh increases zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), occludin and angiopiotetin-1 (Ang-1) expression i...

Epithelia within tubular organs form and expand lumens. Failure of these processes can result in serious developmental anomalies. Although tight junction assembly is crucial to epithelial polarization, the contribution of specific tight junction proteins to lumenogenesis is undefined. Here, we show that ZO-1 (also known as TJP1) is necessary for the formation of single lumens. Epithelia lacking...

The polarized morphology of epithelial cells depends on the establishment and maintenance of characteristic intercellular junctions. The dramatic morphological changes observed in apoptotic epithelial cells were ascribed at least in part to the specific fragmentation of components of adherens junctions and desmosomes. Little, however, is known about tight junctions during apoptosis. We have fou...

Aluminum and zinc are two important trace elements in an organism. Although several studies have demonstrated their impacts on the intelligence, very little was known about their effects on the integrity of blood-brain barrier (BBB). To study the effects of aluminum and zinc on the permeability of BBB, different doses of aluminum and appropriate zinc were administered to rats. Evans blue was de...

Treatment of human cervical epithelial CaSki cells with ATP or with the diacylglyceride sn-1,2-dioctanoyl diglyceride (diC8) induced a staurosporine-sensitive transient increase, followed by a late decrease, in tight-junctional resistance (R(TJ)). CaSki cells express two immunoreactive forms of occludin, 65 and 50 kDa. Treatments with ATP and diC8 decreased the density of the 65-kDa form and in...

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), a selective barrier formed by endothelial cells and dependent on the presence of tight junctions, is compromised during neuroinflammation. A detailed study of tight junction dynamics during transendothelial migration of leukocytes has been lacking. Therefore, we retrovirally expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to the N-terminus of the tight junction pr...

Occludin is an integral membrane protein localizing at tight junctions (TJ) with four transmembrane domains and a long COOH-terminal cytoplasmic domain (domain E) consisting of 255 amino acids. Immunofluorescence and laser scan microscopy revealed that chick full-length occludin introduced into human and bovine epithelial cells was correctly delivered to and incorporated into preexisting TJ. Fu...

Purpose: To evaluate the inflammatory intensity and measure the tissue content of the proteins claudin-3 and occludin in the colonic mucosa without fecal stream submit to intervention with curcumin. Methods: Thirty-six rats were submitted to a proximal colostomy and a distal mucous fistula and divided into two groups according to sacrifice to be performed two or four weeks. Each group was d...

Tight junctions between brain microvessel endothelial cells (BMECs) maintain the blood-brain barrier. Barrier breakdown is associated with brain tumors and central nervous system diseases. Tumor cell-secreted vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increases microvasculature permeability in vivo and is correlated with the induction of clinically severe brain tumor edema. Here we investigated ...