Cereijido Marcelino, Contreras Rubén G, Shoshani Liora, Flores-Benitez David, Larre Isabel
Department of Physiology, Biophysics and Neurosciences, CINVESTAV, AP 14-740, México D.F. 07000, México.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2008 Mar;1778(3):770-93. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2007.09.001. Epub 2007 Sep 15.
Development of tight junctions and cell polarity in epithelial cells requires a complex cellular machinery to execute an internal program in response to ambient cues. Tight junctions, a product of this machinery, can act as gates of the paracellular pathway, fences that keep the identity of plasma membrane domains, bridges that communicate neighboring cells. The polarization internal program and machinery are conserved in yeast, worms, flies and mammals, and in cell types as different as epithelia, neurons and lymphocytes. Polarization and tight junctions are dynamic features that change during development, in response to physiological and pharmacological challenges and in pathological situations like infection.
上皮细胞中紧密连接和细胞极性的形成需要复杂的细胞机制来响应环境信号执行内部程序。这种机制产生的紧密连接可作为细胞旁通路的闸门、维持质膜结构域特性的屏障以及连接相邻细胞的桥梁。极化内部程序和机制在酵母、蠕虫、果蝇和哺乳动物中以及上皮细胞、神经元和淋巴细胞等不同细胞类型中都是保守的。极化和紧密连接是动态特征，在发育过程中、响应生理和药理刺激以及在感染等病理情况下都会发生变化。
