Although tight junction morphology is not obviously affected by TNF, this proinflammatory cytokine promotes internalization of occludin, resulting in disrupted barrier function within the intestine.

This study identifies and characterizes marvelD3, a novel tight junction protein that contains a conserved MARVEL domain. Analyses using phylogenetic, expression profiling, microscopic, and functional approaches show that marvelD3, occludin, and tricellulin are related and have distinct but overlapping functions at the tight junction.

Intestinal barrier function is reduced in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-13, which are up-regulated in IBD, induce barrier defects that are associated with myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) activation and increased claudin-2 expression, respectively, in cultured intestinal epithelial monolayers. Here we report that these independent signaling pathways have distinct effects on tight junction barrier properties and interact in vivo. MLCK activation alters size selectivity to enhance paracellular flux of uncharged macromolecules without affecting charge selectivity and can be rapidly reversed by MLCK inhibition. In contrast, IL-13-dependent claudin-2 expression increases paracellular cation flux in vitro and in vivo without altering tight junction size selectivity but is unaffected by MLCK inhibition in vitro. In vivo, MLCK activation increases paracellular flux of uncharged macromolecules and also triggers IL-13 expression, claudin-2 synthesis, and increased paracellular cation flux. We conclude that reversible, MLCK-dependent permeability increases cause mucosal immune activation that, in turn, feeds back on the tight junction to establish long-lasting barrier defects. Interactions between these otherwise distinct tight junction regulatory pathways may contribute to IBD pathogenesis.

Occludin S408 phosphorylation regulates interactions between occludin, ZO-1, and select claudins to define tight junction molecular structure and barrier function.

No abstract

The perijunctional actomyosin ring contributes to myosin light chain kinase (MLCK)-dependent tight junction regulation. However, the specific protein interactions involved in this process are unknown. To test the hypothesis that molecular remodeling contributes to barrier regulation, tight junction protein dynamic behavior was assessed by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). MLCK inhibition increased barrier function and stabilized ZO-1 at the tight junction but did not affect claudin-1, occludin, or actin exchange in vitro. Pharmacologic MLCK inhibition also blocked in vivo ZO-1 exchange in wild-type, but not long MLCK −/− , mice. Conversely, ZO-1 exchange was accelerated in transgenic mice expressing constitutively active MLCK. In vitro, ZO-1 lacking the actin binding region (ABR) was not stabilized by MLCK inhibition, either in the presence or absence of endogenous ZO-1. Moreover, the free ABR interfered with full-length ZO-1 exchange and reduced basal barrier function. The free ABR also prevented increases in barrier function following MLCK inhibition in a manner that required endogenous ZO-1 expression. In silico modeling of the FRAP data suggests that tight junction-associated ZO-1 exists in three pools, two of which exchange with cytosolic ZO-1. Transport of the ABR-anchored exchangeable pool is regulated by MLCK. These data demonstrate a critical role for the ZO-1 ABR in barrier function and suggest that MLCK-dependent ZO-1 exchange is essential to this mechanism of barrier regulation.fluorescence recovery after photobleaching | mathematical models | myosin light chain kinase | paracellular permeability | intestinal epithelium G reat progress has been made toward identifying components of the tight junction. These include transmembrane, peripheral membrane, and regulatory proteins, many of which contain one or more domains that mediate interactions with other tight junction and cytoskeletal proteins (1). These and other observations drove development of models that depicted the tight junction as a static, heavily cross-linked protein complex (2). However, recent data showing rapid and continuous remodeling of the tight junction refuted the previous models and led to the hypothesis that modulation of protein remodeling behavior could be a mechanism of tight junction barrier regulation (3, 4).The perijunctional ring of F-actin and myosin II that supports the tight junction is essential to physiological and pathophysiological barrier regulation (5). For example, activation of perijunctional myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is sufficient to enhance paracellular permeability (6, 7) and is required for tight junction barrier regulation in response to Na + -nutrient cotransport, inflammatory cytokines, or pathogenic bacteria (8). Thus, modulation of MLCK activity represents a point of convergence for multiple signaling pathways that regulate tight junction barrier function.To assess the role of molecular remodeling in barrier regulation, dynamic behaviors of tight junction proteins were assessed b...

Occludin loss enhances paracellular macromolecular permeability (radius up to ∼62.5 Å) and is necessary for TNF-induced barrier loss. The latter requires the C-terminal OCEL domain, which stabilizes tight junction–associated occludin and regulates trafficking. Thus OCEL-mediated interactions are critical regulators of macromolecular paracellular flux.

Background. Molecular profiling is revolutionizing cancer diagnostics and leading to personalized therapeutic approaches. Herein we describe our clinical experience performing targeted sequencing for 31 pediatric neurooncology patients. Methods. We sequenced 510 cancer-associated genes from tumor and peripheral blood to identify germline and somatic mutations, structural variants, and copy number changes. Results. Genomic profiling was performed on 31 patients with tumors including 11 high-grade gliomas, 8 medulloblastomas, 6 low-grade gliomas, 1 embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes, 1 pineoblastoma, 1 uveal ganglioneuroma, 1 choroid plexus carcinoma, 1 chordoma, and 1 high-grade neuroepithelial tumor. In 25 cases (81%), results impacted patient management by: (i) clarifying diagnosis, (ii) identifying pathogenic germline mutations, or (iii) detecting potentially targetable alterations. The pathologic diagnosis was amended after genomic profiling for 6 patients (19%), including a high-grade glioma to pilocytic astrocytoma, medulloblastoma to pineoblastoma, ependymoma to high-grade glioma, and medulloblastoma to CNS high-grade neuroepithelial tumor with BCOR alteration. Multiple patients had pathogenic germline mutations, many of which were previously unsuspected. Potentially targetable alterations were identified in 19 patients (61%). Additionally, novel likely pathogenic alterations were identified in 3 cases: an in-frame RAF1 fusion in a BRAF wild-type pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, an inactivating ASXL1 mutation in a histone H3