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PubMed1988

Hormonal regulation of hepatocyte tight junctional permeability.

We have investigated the effects of hormones on the permeability of the hepatocyte tight junction to two probes, [14C]sucrose and horseradish peroxidase, using one-pass perfused rat livers. Using a single injection of horseradish peroxidase we have demonstrated that this probe can enter bile by two pathways that are kinetically distinct, a fast pathway, which corresponds to the passage of the probe through the hepatocyte tight junctions, and a slow pathway, which corresponds to the transcytotic entry into bile. The passage of horseradish peroxidase through the hepatocyte tight junctions was confirmed by electron microscopic histochemistry. Vasopressin, epinephrine, and angiotensin II, hormones that act in the hepatocyte through the intracellular mediators calcium, the inositol polyphosphates, and diacylglycerol, increased the bile-to-perfusion fluid ratio of [14C]sucrose and the rapid entry of horseradish peroxidase into bile, indicating that the permeability of the tight junctions to these probes was increased. The effect of these hormones was dose dependent and in the cases of angiotensin II and epinephrine was inhibited by the specific inhibitors [Sar1, Thr8]angiotensin II and prazosin, respectively. Dibutyryl adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate did not affect the [14C]sucrose bile-to-perfusion fluid ratio or the fast entry of horseradish peroxidase into bile. These results suggest that the hepatocyte tight junction can no longer be considered a static system of pores separating blood from bile. It is rather a dynamic barrier potentially capable of influencing the composition of the bile.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1995

Effects of tyrosine phosphorylation on tight junctions in temperature-sensitive v-src-transfected MDCK cells.

We analyzed the direct effects of tyrosine phosphorylation on the structure and functions of tight junctions in temperature-sensitive v-src-transfected MDCK cells. When ts-v-src MDCK cells were plated at a low density at the nonpermissive temperature, they formed small, tight colonies with a typical epithelial appearance. When these colonies were cultured at the permissive temperature, cadherin-based cell adhesion was suppressed, so that individual cells scattered and assumed a fibroblastic appearance. This resulted in the destruction of tight junctions, making it difficult to analyze the direct effects of tyrosine phosphorylation on tight junctions. To suppress cell scattering, we cultured ts-v-src MDCK cells at confluence. Under these conditions, even at the permissive temperature, the cells assumed an epithelial appearance, and the structure of tight junctions were mostly maintained both at the immunofluorescence and electron microscopy levels. The transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) dropped to about 70% of the initial value after the temperature shift from the nonpermissive to the permissive. This temperature shift facilitated the tyrosine phosphorylation of the two tight junction proteins, ZO-1 and ZO-2. We concluded that the direct effects of tyrosine phosphorylation on tight junctions are not so remarkable as those on adherens junctions.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Viral oncoprotein-induced mislocalization of select PDZ proteins disrupts tight junctions and causes polarity defects in epithelial cells.

The development of human cancers is frequently associated with a failure of epithelial cells to form tight junctions and to establish proper apicobasal polarity. Interestingly, the oncogenic potential of the adenovirus E4-ORF1 protein correlates with its binding to the cellular PDZ proteins MUPP1, MAGI-1, ZO-2 and SAP97, the first three of which assemble protein complexes at tight junctions. Given that E4-ORF1 sequesters these three PDZ proteins in the cytoplasm of fibroblasts, we postulated that E4-ORF1 would inhibit tight junction formation in epithelial cells. Providing further support for this idea, we identified MUPP1-related PATJ, a key component of the tight junction-associated CRB3-PALS1-PATJ polarity complex, as a new PDZ-protein target for both the E4-ORF1 and high-risk human papillomavirus type 18 E6 oncoproteins. Moreover, in epithelial cells, E4-ORF1 blocked the tight junction localization of PATJ and ZO-2, as well as their interacting partners, and disrupted both the tight junction barrier and apicobasal polarity. These significant findings expose a direct link between the tumorigenic potential of E4-ORF1 and inactivation of cellular PDZ proteins involved in tight junction assembly and polarity establishment.

Adenovirus E4 Proteins↗
PubMed1996

Identification of isoforms of G proteins and PKC that colocalize with tight junctions.

Recent evidence suggests that the formation and permeability of tight junctions are actively regulated by second-messenger-generating systems involving G proteins and protein kinase C (PKC). A possible specific target for these regulatory proteins is the tight junction protein ZO-1. An extensive immunocytochemical study was performed in cultured epithelial monolayers of MDCK and Caco-2 cells to identify which isoforms of G proteins and PKC are present at or near zonula occludens complex. Antibodies against alpha-subunits of each one of the four major subfamilies were used for the localization of the G proteins. For the PKC localization, antibodies against eight different isoforms were used. In confluent monolayers, G alpha 12 and PKC zeta, were the only isoforms of these proteins at the cell borders. In subconfluent monolayers, G alpha 12 and PKC zeta were found at the plasma membrane only along the areas of lateral cell-cell contact. These isoforms formed a pattern of distribution very similar to the ZO-1 protein. The present findings indicate that G alpha 12 and PKC zeta may be part of the zonula occludens complex and may locally regulate formation and permeability of tight junctions.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Na,K-ATPase inhibition alters tight junction structure and permeability in human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Na,K-ATPase regulates a variety of transport functions in epithelial cells. In cultures of human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, inhibition of Na,K-ATPase by ouabain and K(+) depletion decreased transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and increased permeability of tight junctions to mannitol and inulin. Electrophysiological studies demonstrated that the decrease in TER was due to an increase in paracellular shunt conductance. At the light microscopy level, this increased permeability was not accompanied by changes in the localization of the tight junction proteins ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-3. At the ultrastructural level, increased tight junction permeability correlated with a decrease in tight junction membrane contact points. Decreased tight junction membrane contact points and increased tight junction permeability were reversible in K(+)-repletion experiments. Confocal microscopy revealed that in control cells, Na,K-ATPase was localized at both apical and basolateral plasma membranes. K(+) depletion resulted in a large reduction of apical Na,K-ATPase, and after K(+) repletion the apical Na,K-ATPase recovered to control levels. These results suggest a functional link exists between Na,K-ATPase and tight junction function in human RPE cells.

Actins↗
PubMed2005

PATJ regulates tight junction formation and polarity in mammalian epithelial cells.

Recent studies have revealed an important role for tight junction protein complexes in epithelial cell polarity. One of these complexes contains the apical transmembrane protein, Crumbs, and two PSD95/discs large/zonula occludens domain proteins, protein associated with Lin seven 1 (PALS1)/Stardust and PALS1-associated tight junction protein (PATJ). Although Crumbs and PALS1/Stardust are known to be important for cell polarization, recent studies have suggested that Drosophila PATJ is not essential and its function is unclear. Here, we find that PATJ is targeted to the apical region and tight junctions once cell polarization is initiated. We show using RNAi techniques that reduction in PATJ expression leads to delayed tight junction formation as well as defects in cell polarization. These effects are reversed by reintroduction of PATJ into these RNAi cells. This study provides new functional information on PATJ as a polarity protein and increases our understanding of the Crumbs-PALS1-PATJ complex function in epithelial polarity.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Tight junctions in epithelial cells of human fetal hindgut, normal colon, and colon adenocarcinoma.

The structural patterns of tight junctions in normal human colon mucosa, colon adenocarcinomas, and fetal colon were studied and compared by the freeze-fracturing technique. The zonula occludens of the normal colon cells at the upper, more differentiated part of the crypts of Lieberkühn appeared as continuous belts made of about eight parallel strands. At the less differentiated bases of the crypts, the zonula occludens was less regular and contained fewer, mostly beaded strands. In the colons of 10-week fetuses, early stages of tight junction assembly were observed. At the same time, vesicles bearing remnants of tight junction elements were observed within the cytoplasm. This finding suggested that during the early development and organization of the fetal gut, mechanisms of assembly and disassembly of tight junctions are operating concomitantly. In well-differentiated adenocarcinomas, the cells in the luminal region retained their polarity and had seven or eight parallel junctional elements. In infiltrating cells, however, tight junctions appeared as fascia occludens and resembled the junctional organization of 10-week fetuses.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Bile canalicular barrier function and expression of tight-junctional molecules in rat hepatocytes during common bile duct ligation.

Tight junctions of hepatocytes form the intercellular barrier between the blood circulation and bile flow. We focused on early stages of common bile duct ligation to observe changes in tight junctions without the irreversible changes seen after lengthy ligation. Common bile ducts of 12-week-old male rats were ligated for 6 h because, at this time point, no histological changes were observed. Serum bilirubin and bile acid levels began to increase 3 h after ligation and were restored to the control level immediately after surgical removal of the ligation. To examine the barrier of hapatocytes, horseradish peroxidase was injected via the femoral vein, and bile was collected for the first 10 min. A four-fold elevation of the secretion and concentration was observed in the bile of ligated rats compared with that of control animals. We next examined lanthanum permeability by perfusion fixation of the liver. At 6 h after ligation, both dilation of the bile canaliculi and partial loss of microvilli were commonly observed. There were dense deposits of lanthanum in almost all bile canaliculi of ligated rats. In control animals, neither dilation of the bile canaliculi nor loss of microvilli was detected, and only 44% of bile canaliculi exhibited deposits. An apparent increase of occludin mRNA expression was detected in livers after 6 h ligation, whereas the expression of claudin-1, -2, and -3 was not influenced by ligation. These results indicate that regulation of occludin gene expression is different from that of claudin-1, -2, and -3. The early phase of bile stasis employed in this study is thought to be an indispensable approach for understanding the precise regulation of tight junctions.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

The tight junction protein occludin and the adherens junction protein alpha-catenin share a common interaction mechanism with ZO-1.

The exact sites, structures, and molecular mechanisms of interaction between junction organizing zona occludence protein 1 (ZO-1) and the tight junction protein occludin or the adherens junction protein alpha-catenin are unknown. Binding studies by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and peptide mapping combined with comparative modeling utilizing crystal structures led for the first time to a molecular model revealing the binding of both occludin and alpha-catenin to the same binding site in ZO-1. Our data support a concept that ZO-1 successively associates with alpha-catenin at the adherens junction and occludin at the tight junction. Strong spatial evidence indicates that the occludin C-terminal coiled-coil domain dimerizes and interacts finally as a four-helix bundle with the identified structural motifs in ZO-1. The helix bundle of occludin406-521 and alpha-catenin509-906 interacts with the hinge region (ZO-1591-632 and ZO-1591-622, respectively) and with (ZO-1726-754 and ZO-1756-781) in the GuK domain of ZO-1 containing coiled-coil and alpha-helical structures, respectively. The selectivity of both protein-protein interactions is defined by complementary shapes and charges between the participating epitopes. In conclusion, a common molecular mechanism of forming an intermolecular helical bundle between the hinge region/GuK domain of ZO-1 and alpha-catenin and occludin is identified as a general molecular principle organizing the association of ZO-1 at adherens and tight junctions.

Adherens Junctions↗
PubMed1997

Lysophosphatidic acid increases tight junction permeability in cultured brain endothelial cells.

Brain capillary endothelial cells are coupled by a continuous belt of complex high-electrical-resistance tight junctions that are largely responsible for the blood-brain barrier. We have investigated mechanisms regulating tight junction permeability in brain endothelial cells cultured to maintain high-resistance junctions. The phospholipid lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) was found to cause a rapid, reversible, and dose-dependent decrease in transcellular electrical resistance in brain endothelial cells. LPA also increased the paracellular flux of sucrose, which, together with the resistance decrease, indicated increased tight junction permeability. Activation of protein kinase C attenuated the effect of LPA, suggesting that it was mediated by activation of a signalling pathway. LPA did not cause any obvious relocalization of adherens junction- or tight junction-associated proteins. However, it did stimulate the formation of stress fibres, the recruitment of focal adhesion components, and the appearance of tyrosine phosphorylated protein at focal contacts. Our study shows that LPA is a modulator of tight junction permeability in brain endothelial cells in culture and raises the possibility that it triggers blood-brain barrier permeability changes under (patho)physiological conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Effect of chitosan on epithelial cell tight junctions.

PURPOSE: Chitosan has been proposed as a novel excipient for transepithelial drug-delivery systems. Chitosan is thought to disrupt intercellular tight junctions, thus increasing the permeability of an epithelium. The effect of chitosan on tight junction complex was investigated at the molecular level. METHODS: Changes in barrier properties of Caco-2 cell monolayers, including transepithelial electrical resistance and permeability to horseradish peroxidase (HRP), were assessed in response to chitosan treatment. Changes in subcellular localization of the tight junction proteins zona occludens 1 (ZO-1) and occludin by immunofluorescence and Western blotting of cellular fractions were also assessed. RESULTS: Chitosan was found to cause a dose-dependent reduction in transepithelial electrical resistance of Caco-2 monolayers of up to 83%. A corresponding increase in horseradish peroxidase permeability of up to 18 times greater than the control was also observed across the monolayer. Immunofluorescent localization of ZO-1 revealed loss of membrane-associated ZO-1 from discrete areas. Analysis of cellular fractions revealed a dose-dependent loss of ZO-1 and occludin from the cytosolic and membrane fractions into the cytoskeletal fraction. These changes did not occur because of chitosan-mediated ATP depletion. CONCLUSIONS: Chitosan-mediated tight junction disruption is caused by a translocation of tight junction proteins from the membrane to the cytoskeleton.

Caco-2 Cells↗
PubMed1987

Relationship between orthogonal arrays of particles and tight junctions as demonstrated in cells of the ventricular wall of the rat brain.

Ependymal cells in the ventricular wall and in several circumventricular organs of the rat were compared by means of freeze-fracturing. In principle, tight junctions and orthogonal arrays of particles (OAP) do not coexist in the cells bordering the ventricular wall: (1) Ordinary ependymal cells of the rat possess OAP and are devoid of tight junctions. (2) Epithelial cells of the rat choroid plexus are connected by tight junctions; OAP are lacking here. In some cases, however, tight junctions and OAP coexist in the same cell. In the boundary zone between choroid plexus and ependyma of the rat, the density of OAP is very low, whereas the tight junctions are well developed. In the subfornical and the subcommissural organ (SCO) of the rat both structures are poorly developed; in the SCO they occur segregated in different membranous areas. An overview of the literature confirms that tight junctions and OAP mostly exclude each other. The possibility that in astrocytes and ependymal cells tight junctions may have been replaced by OAP during phylogeny is briefly discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Na(+)-dependent glucose transporter SGLT1 is localized in the apical plasma membrane upon completion of tight junction formation in MDCK cells.

SGLT1, an isoform of Na(+)-dependent glucose transporters, is localized at the apical plasma membrane in the epithelial cells of the small intestine and the kidney. In the present study we examined its location in SGLT1 cDNA-transfected MDCK cells, which form an epithelial sheet connected by tight junctions in culture. Formation of tight junctions was monitored by staining for occludin, an integral tight junction protein. In the cells demarcated by an uninterrupted occludin meshwork, SGLT1 was specifically localized at the apical plasma membrane, showing that SGLT1 has a signal to accomplish this restricted localization. In the cells with little or no occludin accumulation in the tight junction, however, SGLT1 was present along the entire aspect of the plasma membrane. Similar distribution of SGLT1 was observed in the cells as long as the occludin meshwork remained incomplete. These observations suggest that apical localization of SGLT1 occurs upon the completion of the uninterrupted meshwork of tight junctions.

Actins↗
PubMed1997

Human airway epithelial tight junctions.

The flux of fluid, ions, macromolecules, and inflammatory cells across airway epithelium depends in part upon the integrity of its apico-lateral tight junctions. Without the correct balance of fluid and ions, the normal functioning of mucociliary clearance and the neural responsiveness of the airways cannot take place. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy has been used to investigate the structure of human airway tight junctions and their morphology comprehensively characterised at two airway levels (main and lobar bronchi). Further data is needed to establish if the fall in transepithelial electrical resistance found across progressively proximal disparate airway generations is correlated with an alteration in tight junction morphology. Altered epithelial permeability is associated with the development of the airway conditions: asthma, chronic bronchitis, and cystic fibrosis. However, few data have been published on the structure of tight junctions in asthma and chronic bronchitis. In patients with cystic fibrosis, airways obtained at transplantation and postmortem show a basal extension of the apico lateral tight junctional belt. This change is not unique to cystic fibrosis airways as it also occurs in non-respiratory systems postmortem. However the functional relevance of these changes remains uninvestigated and recently developed in vitro models may help answer this question. The data demonstrate that tight junctions are highly dynamic structures capable of rapid alterations in disease and in response to functional stress.

Epithelium↗
PubMed2004

The coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor interacts with the multi-PDZ domain protein-1 (MUPP-1) within the tight junction.

The coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is a component of the epithelial cell tight junction. In a yeast two-hybrid screen we identified the multi-PDZ domain protein MUPP1 as an interaction partner for the CAR cytoplasmic domain. CAR and MUPP1 were found to colocalize at the tight junction, to coprecipitate from epithelial cells, and to interact in vitro. The interaction was found to specifically involve the PDZ-binding motif within the CAR C terminus and MUPP1 PDZ domain 13. In transfected cells, CAR recruited MUPP1 to cell-cell contacts. The inhibition of CAR expression with small interfering RNA inhibited MUPP1 localization to the tight junction. The results indicated that CAR interacts with MUPP1 and is involved in MUPP1 recruitment to the tight junction.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Lanthanum permeability of tight junctions along the collecting duct of the rat.

The permeability of the tight junctions (zonulae occludentes) was evaluated along the entire length of the collecting duct of the rat using a lanthanum tracer technique. Nine rats with hereditary hypothalamic diabetes insipidus were studied using standard micropuncture and clearance techniques. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimated from inulin clearance, urine and plasma osmolality (U/Posm) and urine flow rate (V) were determined in eight of nine animals. During either sustained diuresis (five animals) or vasopressin-induced antidiuresis (four animals), individual surface convolutions of distal convoluted tubules or early cortical collecting ducts were preserved for ultrastructural examination by intraluminal microperfusion with a glutaraldehyde-formaldehyde fixative followed by a second microperfusion with a lanthanum tracer. Mean GFR during diuresis was 6.31 plus or minus se 0.63 ml/min/kg of body wt and v=797 plus or minus se 108 mul/min/kg or 13.6 plus or minus se 2.2% of the filtered load of water. After administration of exogenous vasopressin, V fell to 311 plus or minus 157 mul/min/kg or 5.2 plus or minus se 3.8% of the filtered load of water and U/Posm rose from 0.658 plus or minus se 0.043 to 2.124 plus or minus 0.454. Tight junctions of cortical and outer medullary segments of the collecting duct resisted lanthanum penetration. Tight junctions of the inner medullary and papillary segments of the collecting duct were freely permeable to lanthanum suggesting the presence of a paracellular shunt pathway for solute and water movement. The results were independent of the presence or absence of vasopressin. Physiological studies have previously demonstrated that cortical and outer medullary segments of the collecting duct have a low urea permeability while inner medullary and papillary segments of the collecting duct have a relatively high urea permeability. The possibility is suggested that urea movement across the inner medullary and papillary segments of the collecting duct may occur, at least in part, via a paracellular pathway formed by the nonoccluding tight junction and the lateral intercellular space.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Claudins at the gate: determinants of renal epithelial tight junction paracellular permeability.

The epithelial tight junction (TJ) is responsible for the control of paracellular transport between epithelial cells (gate function) and the maintenance of apical/basolateral polarity by preventing the diffusion of membrane lipids and/or proteins from one surface domain to another (fence function). Renal tubule epithelia in the mammalian nephron have TJs that determine paracellular transport characteristics. Paracellular transport across renal tubular epithelial TJs (gate function) varies in different segments of the nephron. A large family of recently identified TJ-associated transmembrane proteins named claudins appear to determine the paracellular permeability properties of the TJ. A combination of inherited human diseases, renal epithelial cell culture models, and nephron expression patterns of claudins is providing important clues about how claudin molecules determine the TJ gate function of renal epithelia in different segments of the nephron.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Regulation of airway tight junctions by proinflammatory cytokines.

Epithelial tight junctions (TJs) provide an important route for passive electrolyte transport across airway epithelium and provide a barrier to the migration of toxic materials from the lumen to the interstitium. The possibility that TJ function may be perturbed by airway inflammation originated from studies reporting (1) increased levels of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), and IL-1beta in airway epithelia and secretions from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and (2) abnormal TJ strands of CF airways as revealed by freeze-fracture electron microscopy. We measured the effects of cytokine exposure of CF and non-CF well-differentiated primary human airway epithelial cells on TJ properties, including transepithelial resistance, paracellular permeability to hydrophilic solutes, and the TJ proteins occludin, claudin-1, claudin-4, junctional adhesion molecule, and ZO-1. We found that whereas IL-1beta treatment led to alterations in TJ ion selectivity, combined treatment of TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma induced profound effects on TJ barrier function, which could be blocked by inhibitors of protein kinase C. CF bronchi in vivo exhibited the same pattern of expression of TJ-associated proteins as cultures exposed in vitro to prolonged exposure to TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. These data indicate that the TJ of airway epithelia exposed to chronic inflammation may exhibit parallel changes in the barrier function to both solutes and ions.

Blotting, Western↗