title: Tight junctions and the modulation of barrier function in disease.
abstract: Tight junctions create a paracellular barrier in epithelial and endothelial cells protecting them from the external environment. Two different classes of integral membrane proteins constitute the tight junction strands in epithelial cells and endothelial cells, occludin and members of the claudin protein family. In addition, cytoplasmic scaffolding molecules associated with these junctions regulate diverse physiological processes like proliferation, cell polarity and regulated diffusion. In many diseases, disruption of this regulated barrier occurs. This review will briefly describe the molecular composition of the tight junctions and then present evidence of the link between tight junction dysfunction and disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Würzburg, Koellikerstrasse 6, 97070, Würzburg, Germany. carola.foerster@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Förster
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D004194:Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D062726:Junctional Adhesion Molecules; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D062793:Occludin; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D062726:Junctional Adhesion Molecules; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C568985:OCLN protein, human; D062793:Occludin