The pathophysiology of cerebral cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS) is not understood. We investigated cerebral cortex microvessels during immune-mediated demyelination in the MS model chronic murine experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) by immunolocalization of the endothelial cell tight junction (TJ) integral proteins claudin-5 and occludin, a structural protein of caveolae,...

Lactobacillus plantarum, a commensal bacterium of humans, has been proposed to enhance the intestinal barrier, which is compromised in a number of intestinal disorders. To study the effect of L. plantarum strain WCFS1 on human barrier function, healthy subjects were administered L. plantarum or placebo in the duodenum for 6 h by means of a feeding catheter. The scaffold protein zonula occludens...

This study was developed to provide further information on the intestinal barrier permeability and the tight junction protein expression in weaned piglets fed with different levels of soybean agglutinin (SBA). Twenty-five weaned crossbred barrows (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) were selected and randomly allotted to five groups, each group with five replicates. The piglets in the control group w...

Epithelial permeability to ions and larger molecules in the gut is essential for fluid balance, and its dysregulation contributes to intestinal pathology. We investigated the effect of digestive serine proteases on epithelial paracellular permeability. Trypsin, chymotrypsin, and elastase elicited sustained increases in transepithelial resistance (R(TE)) in polarized monolayers of three intestin...

BACKGROUND Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) regulates fibrinolysis and is routinely used as ischemic stroke pharmacotherapy. We hypothesized that brain microvascular tPA expression and barrier properties of endothelial cells are substantially related. METHODS Human brain microvascular endothelial cells were incubated with two agents known to modify cAMP pathways: forskolin and rolipram. We ...

Melatonin is predominately produced and secreted by the pineal gland, and inhibits cell growth in various cancer cell lines such as colorectal cancer. However, the precise mechanisms involved have not been fully elucidated. In the present study, the potential molecular mechanism underlying the efficacy of melatonin on migration in RKO colon cancer cells was investigated. The effects of melatoni...

PURPOSE The outer limiting membrane (OLM) is considered to play a role in maintaining the structure of the retina through mechanical strength. However, the observation of junction proteins located at the OLM and its barrier permeability properties may suggest that the OLM may be part of the retinal barrier. MATERIAL AND METHODS Normal and diabetic rat, monkey, and human retinas were used to a...

PURPOSE Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous competitive inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, is associated with impaired endothelial dysfunction, such as chronic heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and pulmonary hypertension. The effects of ADMA on cell proliferation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, cell permeability, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and tig...

23 Meprin metalloproteases are highly expressed at the luminal interface of the intestine and 24 kidney and in certain leukocytes. Meprins cleave a variety of substrates in vitro including 25 extracellular matrix proteins, adherens junction proteins and cytokines, and have been 26 implicated in a number of inflammatory diseases. The linkage between results in vitro 27 and pathogenesis however, ...

We immunohistochemically and morphometrically examined the expression of gap junction protein connexin (Cx) in normal and crush-injured rat sciatic nerves using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Cx26 was localized in the perineurium and Cx43 was present in the perineurium and the epineurium, whereas Cx32 was confined to the paranodal regions of the nodes of Ranvier. Double labeling for connex...