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Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Functional Assessment of Intestinal Tight Junction Barrier and Ion Permeability in Native Tissue by Ussing Chamber Technique
Published on: May 26, 2021
Phase separation as a therapeutic target in tight junction-associated human diseases
Shuang Sun1, Jun Zhou2,3
1Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Biology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cell Biology in Universities of Shandong, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China. sunshuang0916@163.com.
Abstract:
Tight junctions (TJs) play an important role in the maintenance of epithelial and endothelial barriers. Zonula occludens (ZO) proteins are scaffolding molecules essential for the formation of TJ complexes, and abnormalities in ZO proteins have been implicated in various TJ-associated human diseases such as tumor invasion and metastasis, and barrier dysfunction. Recent studies reveal that liquid-liquid phase separation of ZO proteins drives the polymerization of TJ proteins into a continuous belt, which then recruits various proteins to form the TJ complex to regulate selective paracellular permeability and signal transduction. Herein, we describe recent advances on how ZO phase separation contributes to TJ formation and discuss the potential of phase separation as a target for the treatment of TJ-associated diseases.
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