Division of Cell Biology, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2010 Jan;2(1):a002907. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a002907.
The morphological feature of tight junctions (TJs) fits well with their functions. The core of TJs is a fibril-like proteinaceous structure within the lipid bilayer, the so-called TJ strands. TJ strands in apposing plasma membranes associate with each other to eliminate the intercellular space. A network of paired TJ strands generates a continuous belt that circumscribes each cell to establish the diffusion barrier to the solutes in the paracellular pathway throughout the cellular sheet. Identification and characterization of TJ-associated proteins during the last two decades has unveiled the nature of TJ strands and how they are spatially organized. The interplay between integral membrane proteins, claudins, and cytoplasmic plaque proteins, ZO-1/ZO-2, is critical for TJ formation and function.
紧密连接 (TJ) 的形态特征与其功能非常吻合。TJ 的核心是位于脂质双层内的纤维状蛋白结构，即所谓的 TJ 丝。相邻质膜中的 TJ 丝相互连接，消除了细胞间隙。配对 TJ 丝的网络形成了一个连续的带，环绕每个细胞，在细胞层中建立了对细胞旁途径中溶质的扩散屏障。在过去的二十年中，对 TJ 相关蛋白的鉴定和特征分析揭示了 TJ 丝的性质以及它们的空间组织方式。整合膜蛋白、紧密连接蛋白和细胞质斑块蛋白 ZO-1/ZO-2 之间的相互作用对于 TJ 的形成和功能至关重要。
