title: Tight junctions as regulators of tissue remodelling.
abstract: Formation of tissue barriers by epithelial and endothelial cells requires neighbouring cells to interact via intercellular junctions, which includes tight junctions. Tight junctions form a semipermeable paracellular diffusion barrier and act as signalling hubs that guide cell behaviour and differentiation. Components of tight junctions are also expressed in cell types not forming tight junctions, such as cardiomyocytes, where they associate with facia adherens and/or gap junctions. This review will focus on tight junction proteins and their importance in tissue homeostasis and remodelling with a particular emphasis on what we have learned from animal models and human diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: m.balda@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Balda
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D016764:Cell Polarity; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009928:Organ Specificity; D062725:Tight Junction Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D062725:Tight Junction Proteins