Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF, 50K) Alert me when this article is cited Citation Map Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Matter, K. Articles by Balda, M. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Matter, K. Articles by Balda, M. S. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2003/5/459 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 161, Number 3, 459-460

Holey barrier

Karl Matter and Maria S. Balda

Division of Cell Biology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London EC1V 9EL, UK

Address correspondence to Karl Matter, Division of Cell Biology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, Bath St., London EC1V 9EL, UK. Tel.: 44-20-7608-4014. Fax: 44-20-7608-4034. E-mail: k.matter{at}ucl.ac.uk; or Maria S. Balda, Division of Cell Biology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, Bath St., London EC1V 9EL, UK. Tel.: 44-20-7608-6861. Fax: 44-20-7608-4034. E-mail: m.balda{at}ucl.ac.uk

Endothelial tight junctions (TJs)^* are an important functional part of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In this issue, Nitta et al. (2003) demonstrate that claudin-5, a transmembrane protein of TJs, is a critical determinant of BBB permeability in mice. Unexpectedly, knockout of claudin-5 did not result in a general breakdown of TJs but in a selective increase in paracellular permeability of small molecules. This suggests that the BBB can be manipulated to allow selective diffusion of small molecules and makes claudin-5 a possible target for the development of drugs for this purpose.

Key Words: blood-brain barrier; tight junction; paracellular permeability; occludin

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Campbell, M., Nguyen, A. T. H., Kiang, A.-S., Tam, L. C. S., Gobbo, O. L., Kerskens, C., Dhubhghaill, S. N., Humphries, M. M., Farrar, G.-J., Kenna, P. F., Humphries, P. (2009). An experimental platform for systemic drug delivery to the retina. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 17817-17822 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Forster, C., Burek, M., Romero, I. A., Weksler, B., Couraud, P.-O., Drenckhahn, D. (2008). Differential effects of hydrocortisone and TNF{alpha} on tight junction proteins in an in vitro model of the human blood-brain barrier. J. Physiol. 586: 1937-1949 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Schubert-Unkmeir, A., Sokolova, O., Panzner, U., Eigenthaler, M., Frosch, M. (2007). Gene Expression Pattern in Human Brain Endothelial Cells in Response to Neisseria meningitidis. Infect. Immun. 75: 899-914 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rahner, C., Fukuhara, M., Peng, S., Kojima, S., Rizzolo, L. J. (2004). The apical and basal environments of the retinal pigment epithelium regulate the maturation of tight junctions during development. J. Cell Sci. 117: 3307-3318 [Abstract] [Full Text]  

Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents