Listeria monocytogenes causes invasive disease by crossing the intestinal epithelial barrier. This process depends on the interaction between the bacterial surface protein Internalin A and the host protein E-cadherin, located below the epithelial tight junctions at the lateral cell-to-cell contacts. We used polarized MDCK cells as a model epithelium to determine how L. monocytogenes breaches th...

To determine the effect on new connective tissue attachment of citric acid conditioning and fibronectin-laminin application in treating naturally occurring periodontitis, all 4 quadrants in each of 2 Beagle dogs were used. Each quadrant included: P2, P3, P4, and M1 teeth. 2 treatment modalities were employed and comparatively analyzed for differences in histological healing respponses at 120 da...

Research in implant dentistry has mainly focused on hard tissue integration with much less data available with regards to soft tissue integration involving epithelium and connective tissue. In the present study, the implantogingival junction of unloaded and loaded non-submerged titanium implants has been analyzed histometrically in the canine mandible. In 6 foxhounds, 69 implants were placed. D...

OBJECTIVES To analyse the soft tissue morphology under healthy and experimental mucositis conditions comparing zirconia titanium implants. METHODS Forty-two patients with two adjacent missing teeth received one (Zr) (Ti) implant, mesial distal position randomized. At 3 months, half of were instructed to continue (healthy; h) other omit (experimental mucositis; m) oral hygiene around implants fo...

During pregnancy, the integrity of the mammary gland epithelium must be maintained by the junctional nexus formed by gap, adherens, and tight junctions for proper alveologenesis. We have previously shown that mammary glands from Gja1(Jrt/+) mice, harboring a mutation in the Gja1 gene encoding connexin (Cx) 43, have reduced Cx43 gap junction function and are unable to release milk to the pups. W...

Junctional devices in Sertoli cells conform the blood-testis barrier and play a key role in maturation and differentiation of germ cells. The spacial distribution of ectoplasmic specializations of Sertoli cells was studied by beta-actin immunolabelling, using laser confocal and transmission electron microscopy. For confocal microscopy, beta-actin immunolabelling of ectoplasmic specializations w...

Abstract Infiltrating neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) accumulate in the inflamed epithelium to induce mucosal inflammation patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. The formation of NETs is initiated by peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), which facilitates NET generation through chromatin decondensation. We recently demonstrated that impair intestinal integrity, permeab...

Egression of inflammatory cells from the lung interstitium into the airway lumen is critical for the resolution of inflammation, but the underlying mechanisms of this egression are unclear. Here, we use an in vitro system, in which human T cells migrate across a bronchial epithelial monolayer, to investigate the molecules involved. We show that although inhibition of T-cell LFA-1 blocks egressi...

Multiple endoscopic specimens were obtained from 58 patients with a columnar lined gesophagus to study the histological and histochemical features of this metaplastic epithelium. Five patients (8.6%) had presented with a primary oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Three different epithelial types, junctional, atrophic fundic and intestinal were identified. Twenty two (38%) patients had just one type of...

The intestinal tract is a diverse microenvironment where more than 500 species of bacteria thrive. A single layer of epithelium is all that separates these commensal microorganisms and pathogens from the underlying immune cells, and thus epithelial barrier function is a key component in the arsenal of defense mechanisms required to prevent infection and inflammation. The epithelial barrier cons...