title: Tight junctions: closing in on the seal.
abstract: The claudins have recently been identified as a large family of transmembrane proteins located at tight junctions between epithelial cells; they create the paracellular diffusion barrier and, surprisingly, may also confer channel-like selectivity for passage of solutes through the tissue barrier.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine and Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven 06580-8019, USA. james.anderson@yale.edu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Van Itallie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001693:Biological Transport, Active; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D062793:Occludin; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; C568985:OCLN protein, human; D062793:Occludin