title: Changes of Tight Junction Protein Claudins in Small Intestine and Kidney Tissues of Mice Fed a DDC Diet.
abstract: DDC (3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine)-fed mice are widely used as a model for cholestatic liver disease. We examined the expression of tight junction protein claudin subspecies by immunofluorescent histochemistry in small intestine and kidney tissues of mice fed a DDC diet for 12 weeks. In the small intestine, decreases in claudin-3, claudin-7 and claudin-15 were observed in villous epithelial cells corresponding to the severity of histological changes while leaving the abundance of these claudin subspecies unchanged in crypt cells. Nevertheless, the proliferative activity of intestinal crypt cells measured by immunohistochemistry for Ki-67 decreased in the mice fed the DDC diet compared with that of control mice. These results suggest the possibility that DDC feeding affects the barrier function of villous epithelial cells and thus inhibits the proliferative activity of crypt epithelial cells. On the other hand, in the kidney, remarkable changes were found in the subcellular localization of claudin subspecies in a segment-specific manner, although histological changes of renal epithelial cells were quite minimal. These results indicate that immunohistochemistry for claudin subspecies can serve as a useful tool for detecting minute functional alterations of intestinal and renal epithelial cells.
authors: Sapporo General Pathology Laboratory Co., Ltd., 3-17, S12 W18, Sapporo 064-0912, Japan.
authors: Yukie
authors: Y
authors: Abiko
authors: Department of Cell Science, Research Institute for Frontier Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S1 W17, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan.
authors: Takashi
authors: T
authors: Kojima
authors: Department of Pathology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S1 W17, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan.
authors: Masaki
authors: M
authors: Murata
authors: Department of Pathology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S1 W17, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan.
authors: Mitsuhiro
authors: M
authors: Tsujiwaki
authors: Sapporo General Pathology Laboratory Co., Ltd., 3-17, S12 W18, Sapporo 064-0912, Japan.
authors: Masaya
authors: M
authors: Takeuchi
authors: Department of Pathology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, S1 W17, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan.
authors: Norimasa
authors: N
authors: Sawada
authors: Sapporo General Pathology Laboratory Co., Ltd., 3-17, S12 W18, Sapporo 064-0912, Japan.
authors: Michio
authors: M
authors: Mori
keywords: DDC diet; claudins; kidney; small intestine; tight junction