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Tight junctions: is there a role in dermatology?

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Abstract

A variety of tight junction (TJ) proteins including claudins, occludin, tricellulin, zonula occludens-proteins and junctional adhesion molecules have been identified in complex localization patterns in mammalian epidermis. Their expression and/or localization is frequently altered in skin diseases including skin tumors. However, our understanding of the function(s) of TJ and TJ proteins in the skin is, even though rapidly increasing, still limited. This review summarizes our current knowledge of the involvement of TJ and TJ proteins in mammalian skin in functions ascribed to TJ in simple epithelia, such as barrier function, polarity, gene expression, proliferation, differentiation, and vesicle transport.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Drs Ingrid Moll (Hamburg) and Michael Fromm (Charite Berlin) for helpful discussions. This work is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant 721/2 TP 9 to JMB) and the Johann and Anny Thomas Stiftung (Grant 01/07 to JMB).

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  1. Department of Dermatology and Venerology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Nina Kirschner, Claudia Bohner, Susanne Rachow & Johanna M. Brandner

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  1. Nina Kirschner
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Correspondence to Johanna M. Brandner.

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Kirschner, N., Bohner, C., Rachow, S. et al. Tight junctions: is there a role in dermatology?. Arch Dermatol Res 302, 483–493 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-010-1058-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-010-1058-z

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