Introduction The corpus luteum (CL) is dependent on luteal vascular permeability, which is controlled by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) via vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). In this study we investigated the role of a potential VEGF antagonist pathway – Slit2/ Robo4 – and its influence on endothelial cell adhesion. Materials and Methods Luteinized granulosa cells (LGCs) were stimul...

the gene coding claudin (cldn5) is located on 22q11. since the proteins of cldn5 family are a ma-jor component for barrier-forming tight junctions, it may be important to test whether or not the cldn5 locus could be associated with schizophrenia.a total of 150 individuals affected with schizophrenia and 150 healthy persons were recruited. the relation-ship between the three single nucleotide po...

Schizophrenia is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors; however, its pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Here, we focus on the endothelial tight-junction protein claudin-5 (CLDN5), because the CLDN5 gene is mapped to the schizophrenia-associated 22q11.2 deletion region, and a single nucleotide polymorphism in the CLDN5 locus is also linked to schizophrenia...

BACKGROUND The gene coding claudin (CLDN5) is located on 22q11. Since the proteins of CLDN5 family are a ma-jor component for barrier-forming tight junctions, it may be important to test whether or not the CLDN5 locus could be associated with schizophrenia. METHOD A total of 150 individuals affected with schizophrenia and 150 healthy persons were recruited. The relation-ship between the three...

Members of the claudin family constitute tight junction strands and are major determinants in specificity and selectivity of paracellular barriers. Transcriptional control of claudin gene expression is essential to establish individual claudin expression patterns and barrier properties. Using full genome expression profiling, we now identify sex-determining region Y-box (SOX)-18, a member of th...

The aim of our study was to assess the nature and importance of claudin expression in grade I-III ependymomas. The expression of claudins 2-5, 7, 10, TWIST, and ZEB1 were investigated in a series of 61 ependymomas using immunohistochemistry. All the claudins were expressed in ependymomas, except for CLDN4. CLDN5 positive tumours were associated with higher grade (p=0.049), whereas CLDN10 was lo...

Gene expression analysis is very instrumental in understanding the pathogenesis of the disease. To enhance the understanding of the molecular basis of the disease there is a need to extract the buried patterns in gene expression profiles. This paper is intended to provide a computational approach for the analysis of claudin gene family association with the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. Our an...

AIMS Microangiopathy, i.e. endothelial dysfunction, has long been suggested to contribute to the development of diabetic neuropathy, although this has never been fully verified. In the present paper, we have identified the role of Hedgehog (Hh) signalling in endoneurial microvessel integrity and evaluated the impact of impaired Hh signalling in endothelial cells (ECs) on nerve function. METHO...

we find that that expression of claudin 5, a component of endothelial tight junctions, is dramatically down-regulated in Tal1-deficient embryos. Consistent with a defect in tight junction formation, localization of junctional components is disorganized in the Tal1-deficient endocardium. Therefore, we propose that Tal1 transcriptional targets regulate endocardial migration and tube extension thr...