Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Inserm UMR1110, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.
Université de Strasbourg, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Jan 28;21(3):825. doi: 10.3390/ijms21030825.
Tight junctions (TJ) are intercellular adhesion complexes on epithelial cells and composed of integral membrane proteins as well as cytosolic adaptor proteins. Tight junction proteins have been recognized to play a key role in health and disease. In the liver, TJ proteins have several functions: they contribute as gatekeepers for paracellular diffusion between adherent hepatocytes or cholangiocytes to shape the blood-biliary barrier (BBIB) and maintain tissue homeostasis. At non-junctional localizations, TJ proteins are involved in key regulatory cell functions such as differentiation, proliferation, and migration by recruiting signaling proteins in response to extracellular stimuli. Moreover, TJ proteins are hepatocyte entry factors for the hepatitis C virus (HCV)-a major cause of liver disease and cancer worldwide. Perturbation of TJ protein expression has been reported in chronic HCV infection, cholestatic liver diseases as well as hepatobiliary carcinoma. Here we review the physiological function of TJ proteins in the liver and their implications in hepatobiliary diseases.
紧密连接（TJ）是上皮细胞的细胞间黏附复合物，由整合膜蛋白和细胞质衔接蛋白组成。TJ 蛋白在健康和疾病中起着关键作用。在肝脏中，TJ 蛋白具有多种功能：它们作为黏附的肝细胞或胆管细胞之间旁细胞扩散的守门员，形成血-胆屏障（BBIB）并维持组织内稳态。在非连接定位，TJ 蛋白通过招募信号蛋白对细胞外刺激做出反应，参与关键的调节细胞功能，如分化、增殖和迁移。此外，TJ 蛋白是丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）的肝细胞进入因子-这是全球肝脏疾病和癌症的主要原因。在慢性 HCV 感染、胆汁淤积性肝病以及肝胆癌中，已经报道了 TJ 蛋白表达的改变。在这里，我们回顾了 TJ 蛋白在肝脏中的生理功能及其在肝胆疾病中的意义。
