Tight junctions

Specific barriers may serve to limit dmg distribution. The placental barrier is of obvious importance to dmg action in the fetus. Dmg transfers across the placenta primarily by Hpid solubiHty. Hence, this barrier is not particularly restrictive. Similarly, the Hpid solubiHty of a dmg is a primary deterrninant in access to the brain and cerebrospinal fluid. Generally, hydrophilic or charged dmgs can also penetrate to these latter areas, but the result is slow and incomplete. The blood brain barrier is composed of cells having tight junctions which are much less permeable to solutes than are the endotheHal cells of other tissues. 

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) forms a physiological barrier between the central nervous system and the blood circulation. It consists of glial cells and a special species of endothelial cells, which form tight junctions between each other thereby inhibiting paracellular transport. In addition, the endothelial cells of the BBB express a variety of ABC-transporters to protect the brain tissue against toxic metabolites and xenobiotics. The BBB is permeable to water, glucose, sodium chloride and non-ionised lipid-soluble molecules but large molecules such as peptides as well as many polar substances do not readily permeate the battier. 

FIGURE 29-1. The blood-brain barrier selectively inhibits certain substances from entering the interstitial spaces of the brain and spinal fluid. It is thought that certain cells within the brain form tight junctions that prevent or slow the passage of certain substances. Levodopa passes the blood-brain barrier, whereas dopamine is unable to pass. 

In cancer treatment, passive targeting of macromolecular carriers to tumors is a commonly used approach. This passive targeting is based on the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, which leads to an accumulation of the high molecular weight carrier in the tumor tissue. The EPR effect arises from the different physiology of tumor vasculature, where the vessel walls are highly porous and lack the tight junctions that are present in healthy tissue. As a result, macromolecular carriers extravasate and accumulate preferentially in tumor tissue relative to normal tissues [63, 64]. 

There are regional asymmetries in membranes. Some, such as occur at the villous borders of mucosal cells, are almost macroscopicaUy visible. Others, such as those at gap junctions, tight junctions, and synapses, occupy much smaller regions of the membrane and generate correspondingly smaller local asymmetries. 

A state of fluidity and thus of translational mobitity in a membrane may be confined to certain regions of membranes under certain conditions. For example, protein-protein interactions may take place within the plane of the membrane, such that the integral proteins form a rigid matrix—in contrast to the more usual situation, where the hpid acts as the matrix. Such regions of rigid protein matrix can exist side by side in the same membrane with the usual lipid matrix. Gap junctions and tight junctions are clear examples of such side-by-side coexistence of different matrices. 

Fig. 1.—Diagrammatic Representation of the Three Steps in the Taste-cell Transduction. Step 1, interaction of stimulus (S) with membrane-bound receptor (R) to form stimulus-receptor complex (SR) step 2, conformational change (SR) to (SR), brought about by interaction of S with R (this change initiates a change in plasma-membrane conformation of taste cells, probably below the level of the tight junction) and step 3, conformational changes of the membrane result in lowered membrane resistance, and the consequential influx on intracellular ionic species, probably Na. This influx generates the receptor potential which induces synaptic vesicular release to the innervating, sensory nerve, leading to the generator potential.

Dallasta LM, Pisarov LA, Esplen JE, Werley JV, Moses AV, Nelson JA, Achim CL (1999) Blood-brain barrier tight junction disruption in human immunodeficiency virus-1 encephalitis. Am J Pathol 155 1915-1927... 

Nakamuta S, Endo H, Higashi Y, Kousaka A, Yamada H, Yano M, Kido H (2008) Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 gpl20-mediated disruption of tight junction proteins by induction of proteasome-mediated degradation of zonula occludens-1 and -2 in human brain microvascular endothelial cells. J Neurovirol 14 186-195... 

HASHIMOTO K, KAWAGISHI H, NAKAYAMA T, SHIMIZU M (1997) Effect of capsianoside, a diterpene glycoside, on tight-junctional permeability. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1323 281-90. 

The in vitro system we have been using to study the transepithelial transport is cultured Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells (11). When cultured on microporous polycarbonate filters (Transwell, Costar, Cambridge, MA), MDCK cells will develop into monolayers mimicking the mucosal epithelium (11). When these cells reach confluence, tight junctions will be established between the cells, and free diffusion of solutes across the cell monolayer will be markedly inhibited. Tight junction formation can be monitored by measuring the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) across the cell monolayers. In Figure 1, MDCK cells were seeded at 2 X 104 cells per well in Transwells (0.4 p pore size) as described previously. TEER and 14C-sucrose transport were measured daily. To determine 14C-sucrose... 

There are also numerous important variations in the microvasculature bed (i.e., arterioles, capillaries, and venules) that affect permeability. For example, venular portions of the capillaries have thin endothelial cells (170 nm), with frequent interendothelial discontinuities. About 30% of venular junctions are believed to have gaps of about 6 nm. Arterioles, in contrast, have endothelial cells that are linked by the tight junctions and communicating junctions, whereas the capillary endothelium contains... 

Tight junctions (up to 2 nm) with continuous basement membrane extravasation mainly by vesicular trafficking... 

Figure 2.5 Schematic of the structure of epithelial cells, based on several literature sources [55,63,69,73,74,76,78,79]. The tight junctions and the basement membrane appear to be slightly ion-selective (lined with some negatively charged groups) [75,76,79]. [Avdeef, A., Curr. Topics Med. Chem., 1, 277-351 (2001). Reproduced with permission from Bentham Science Publishers, Ltd.]...

The membrane surface facing the lumen is called the apical surface, and the membrane surface on the side facing blood is called the basolateral surface. The intestinal cells are joined at the tight junctions [63,75]. These junctions have pores that can allow small molecules (MW < 200 Da) to diffuse through in aqueous solution. In the jejunum, the pores are 7-9 A in size. In the ileum the junctions are tighter, and pores are 3-4 A in size (i.e., dimensions of mannitol) [63]. 

Two principal routes of passive diffusion are recognized transcellular (la —> lb —> lc in Fig. 2.7) and paracellular (2a > 2b > 2c). Lateral exchange of phospholipid components of the inner leaflet of the epithelial bilayer seems possible, mixing simple lipids between the apical and basolateral side. However, whether the membrane lipids in the outer leaflet can diffuse across the tight junction is a point of controversy, and there may be some evidence in favor of it (for some lipids) [63]. In this book, a third passive mechanism, based on lateral diffusion of drug molecules in the outer leaflet of the bilayer (3a > 3b > 3c), wih be hypothesized as a possible mode of transport for polar or charged amphiphilic molecules. 

Many structural components of the tight junctions (TJs) have been defined since 1992 [85-97]. Lutz and Siahaan [95] reviewed the protein structural components of the TJ. Figure 2.7 depicts the occludin protein complex that makes the water pores so restrictive. Freeze-fracture electronmicrographs of the constrictive region of the TJ show net-like arrays of strands (made partly of the cytoskeleton) circumscribing the cell, forming a division between the apical and the basolateral... 

Schneeberger, E. E. Lynch, R. D., Structure, function, and regulation of cellular tight junctions, Am. J. Physiol. 262, L647-L661 (1992). 

Anderberg, E. K. Lindmark, T. Artursson, P., Sodium caprate ehcits dilations in human intestinal tight junctions and enhances drug absorption by the paracellular route, Pharm. Res. 10, 857-864 (1993). 

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