Effect of caveolin-1 on the expression of tight junction-associated proteins in rat glioma-derived microvascular endothelial cells.

Caveolin-1 affects the permeability of blood-tumor barrier (BTB) by regulating the expression of tight junction-associated proteins. However, the effect is still controversial. In the present work, we studied the regulative effect of caveolin-1 on the expression of tight junction-associated proteins and BTB via directly silencing and overexpressing of caveolin-1 by recombinant adenovirus transduction of glioma-derived microvascular endothelial cells in rat brain. The results show that the caveolin-1 downregulation resulted in decreased expression of tight junction-associated proteins, opening of tight junctions, and increasing the permeability of BTB, whereas the overexpression of caveolin-1 presented the opposite effects. Therefore, we conclude that caveolin-1 regulates the expression of tight junction-associated proteins in a positive manner, which further plays a role in the regulation of BTB permeability. This finding provides a novel therapeutic target for selectively opening of BTB.