Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Sensing of Barrier Tissue Disruption with an Organic Electrochemical Transistor
Published on: February 10, 2014
Regulation of tight junction permeability by sodium caprate in human keratinocytes and reconstructed epidermis
Masumi Kurasawa1, Shohei Kuroda, Naoko Kida
1Pola Chemical Industries Inc., 560 Kashio-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama 244-0812, Japan.
Abstract:
Tight junctions (TJs) restrict paracellular flux of water and solutes in epithelia and endothelia. In epidermis, the physiological role of TJs is not fully understood. In this study, sodium caprate (C10), which dilates intestinal TJs, was applied to cultured human epidermal keratinocytes and reconstructed human epidermis to investigate the effects of C10 on epidermal TJs. C10 treatment decreased transepithelial electrical resistance and increased paracellular permeability, although Western blots showed that the expression of TJ-related transmembrane proteins was not decreased. The effects of C10 were reversible. Immunofluorescence microscopy and immuno-replica electron microscopy showed that the localization of TJ strands were disintegrated, concomitant with the dispersion and/or disappearance of TJ-related molecules from the cell surface. These findings suggest that C10 impairs barrier function by physically disrupting TJ conformation in the epidermis. Furthermore, these results also show that proper localization of the molecules on the cellular membrane is important for TJ barrier function.
Related Concept Videos
Tight Junctions
Renewal of Skin Epidermal Stem Cells
Regulation of Angiogenesis and Blood Supply
Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces
Anchoring junctions mechanically attach a cell to the...
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin homology) domains...
Anchoring Junctions

