Present study was designed to establish a causal connection between changes in the cell-cell junction protein expression at the blood-testis barrier (BTB) and alterations in the adult rat testis histology following an anti-androgen flutamide exposure. Particular emphasis was placed on the basal ectoplasmic specialization (bES) in the seminiferous epithelium and expression of gap and tight junct...

Barrier dysfunction in inflammatory bowel diseases implies enhanced paracellular flux and lowered transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) causing effective invasion of enteropathogens or altered intestinal absorption of toxins and drug compounds. To elucidate the role of matriptase-driven cell surface proteolysis in the maintenance of intestinal barrier function, the 3-amidinophenylalanine-...

The North American Ground Skink, Scincella lateralis, is a member of the most speciose family of lizards, the Scincidae. The only descriptions of the testicular ducts of skinks concern the light microscopy of 13 species in eight other genera. We combine histological observations with results from transmission electron microscopy on a sample of skinks collected throughout the active season. The ...

It is well known that caloric restriction leads to an increased longevity by forestalling age-related diseases. Dietary restriction of methionine also renders similar benefits. In this review, we report studies on the effect of methionine restriction on epithelial barrier function in a renal epithelial LLC-PK1 cell, a rodent gastrointestinal model and a clinical trial using Crohn’s patients. In...

The foot processes of glomerular epithelial cells of the mammalian kidney are firmly attached to one another by shallow intercellular junctions or slit diaphragms of unknown composition. We have investigated the molecular nature of these junctions using an antibody that recognizes ZO-1, a protein that is specific for the tight junction or zonula occludens. By immunoblotting the affinity purifie...

PURPOSE To establish an "electrical fingerprint" for the gap junction channels between mammalian lens epithelial cells. METHODS The double whole cell patch clamp technique was applied to isolated cell pairs obtained from mouse lens epithelium and a continuous cell line of lens epithelial cells derived from the sheep lens (SLE 2.1). RESULTS The junctional conductance in mouse lens epithelial...

Delamination plays a pivotal role during normal development and cancer. Previous work has demonstrated that delamination and epithelial cell movement within the plane of an epithelium are associated with a change in cellular phenotype. However, how this positional change is linked to differentiation remains unknown. Using the developing mouse pancreas as a model system, we show that β cell dela...

Sustentacular cells (SCs) line the apical surface of the olfactory epithelium (OE) and provide trophic, metabolic, and mechanical support for olfactory receptor neurons. Morphological studies have suggested that SCs possess gap junctions, although physiological evidence for gap junctional communication in mammalian SCs is lacking. In the present study we investigated whether coupling exists bet...

Junctional diastolic slopes were recorded in 11 of 15 patients (73.3%) with junctional rhythm that occurred spontaneously, after intravenous administration of atropine (1 mg), or during carotid sinus massage. The diastolic slopes were recorded through a unipolar lead consisting of a terminal of an electrode catheter placed in the His bundle area paired with an indifferent terminal on the superi...