This Article Order Full text via Infotrieve Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kimura, Y. Articles by Monden, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kimura, Y. Articles by Monden, M.

American Journal of Pathology, Vol 151, 45-54, Copyright © 1997 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

REGULAR ARTICLES

Expression of occludin, tight-junction-associated protein, in human digestive tract

Y Kimura, H Shiozaki, M Hirao, Y Maeno, Y Doki, M Inoue, T Monden, Y Ando- Akatsuka, M Furuse, S Tsukita and M Monden
Department of Surgery II, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.

The tight junction seals cells together at a subapical location and functionally separates the plasma membrane into an apical and a basolateral domain. This junction is one of the most characteristic structural markers of the polarized epithelial cell. Recently, occludin has been identified as an integral transmembrane protein localizing at the tight junction and directly associated with ZO-1, an undercoat- constitutive cytoplasmic protein. We have investigated occludin expression in conjunction with ZO-1 in normal epithelia and cancers of human digestive tract by immunostaining with a new antibody raised against human occludin. In the normal simple columnar epithelium, occludin was expressed together with ZO-1 as a single line at the apical cell border. However, in the esophagus, which has a stratified squamous epithelium, no occludin expression could be detected, but ZO-1 was expressed in the spinous layer. As for cancers, both occludin and ZO-1 showed the same expression in differentiated adenocarcinoma cells as in normal epithelium, but in poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, the expression of these two proteins was reduced. There was significant correlation between tumor differentiation and expression of these proteins. These results suggest that occludin, together with ZO-1, is involved in the formation of gland-like structures. In addition, occludin expression can serve as a histopathological indicator for differentiation in gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N Ara, K Iijima, K Asanuma, J Yoshitake, S Ohara, T Shimosegawa, and T Yoshimura Disruption of gastric barrier function by luminal nitrosative stress: a potential chemical insult to the human gastro-oesophageal junction Gut, March 1, 2008; 57(3): 306 - 313. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Osanai, M. Murata, N. Nishikiori, H. Chiba, T. Kojima, and N. Sawada Epigenetic Silencing of Occludin Promotes Tumorigenic and Metastatic Properties of Cancer Cells via Modulations of Unique Sets of Apoptosis-Associated Genes. Cancer Res., September 15, 2006; 66(18): 9125 - 9133. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. J. Morin Claudin Proteins in Human Cancer: Promising New Targets for Diagnosis and Therapy Cancer Res., November 1, 2005; 65(21): 9603 - 9606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				X. Guo, J. N. Rao, L. Liu, T. Zou, K. M. Keledjian, D. Boneva, B. S. Marasa, and J.-Y. Wang Polyamines are necessary for synthesis and stability of occludin protein in intestinal epithelial cells Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, June 1, 2005; 288(6): G1159 - G1169. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. S.M. Smalley, P. Brafford, N. K. Haass, J. M. Brandner, E. Brown, and M. Herlyn Up-Regulated Expression of Zonula Occludens Protein-1 in Human Melanoma Associates with N-Cadherin and Contributes to Invasion and Adhesion Am. J. Pathol., May 1, 2005; 166(5): 1541 - 1554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Belbin, B. Singh, R. V. Smith, N. D. Socci, V. B. Wreesmann, M. Sanchez-Carbayo, J. Masterson, S. Patel, C. Cordon-Cardo, M. B. Prystowsky, et al. Molecular Profiling of Tumor Progression in Head and Neck Cancer Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, January 1, 2005; 131(1): 10 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Zhu, J. Maric, M. Nilsson, M. Brannstrom, P.-O. Janson, and K. Sundfeldt Formation and Barrier Function of Tight Junctions in Human Ovarian Surface Epithelium Biol Reprod, July 1, 2004; 71(1): 53 - 59. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. B. A. Rangel, R. Agarwal, T. D'Souza, E. S. Pizer, P. L. Alo, W. D. Lancaster, L. Gregoire, D. R. Schwartz, K. R. Cho, and P. J. Morin Tight Junction Proteins Claudin-3 and Claudin-4 Are Frequently Overexpressed in Ovarian Cancer but Not in Ovarian Cystadenomas Clin. Cancer Res., July 1, 2003; 9(7): 2567 - 2575. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Boussioutas, H. Li, J. Liu, P. Waring, S. Lade, A. J. Holloway, D. Taupin, K. Gorringe, I. Haviv, P. V. Desmond, et al. Distinctive Patterns of Gene Expression in Premalignant Gastric Mucosa and Gastric Cancer Cancer Res., May 15, 2003; 63(10): 2569 - 2577. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Hollande, D. J. Lee, A. Choquet, S. Roche, and G. S. Baldwin Adherens junctions and tight junctions are regulated via different pathways by progastrin in epithelial cells J. Cell Sci., April 1, 2003; 116(7): 1187 - 1197. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Naishiro, T. Yamada, A. S. Takaoka, R. Hayashi, F. Hasegawa, K. Imai, and S. Hirohashi Restoration of Epithelial Cell Polarity in a Colorectal Cancer Cell Line by Suppression of {beta}-catenin/T-Cell Factor 4-mediated Gene Transactivation Cancer Res., March 1, 2001; 61(6): 2751 - 2758. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				A. P. Soler, R.D. Miller, K. V. Laughlin, N. Z. Carp, D. M. Klurfeld, and J. M. Mullin Increased tight junctional permeability is associated with the development of colon cancer Carcinogenesis, August 1, 1999; 20(8): 1425 - 1432. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Levy and B. Robaire Segment-Specific Changes with Age in the Expression of Junctional Proteins and the Permeability of the Blood-Epididymis Barrier in Rats Biol Reprod, June 1, 1999; 60(6): 1392 - 1401. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				B. Mann, M. Gelos, A. Siedow, M. L. Hanski, A. Gratchev, M. Ilyas, W. F. Bodmer, M. P. Moyer, E. O. Riecken, H. J. Buhr, et al. Target genes of beta -catenin-T cell-factor/lymphoid-enhancer-factor signaling in human colorectal carcinomas PNAS, February 16, 1999; 96(4): 1603 - 1608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. G. Palmer, J. M. Gonzalez-Sancho, J. Espada, M. T. Berciano, I. Puig, J. Baulida, M. Quintanilla, A. Cano, A. G. de Herreros, M. Lafarga, et al. Vitamin D3 promotes the differentiation of colon carcinoma cells by the induction of E-cadherin and the inhibition of {beta}-catenin signaling J. Cell Biol., July 23, 2001; 154(2): 369 - 388. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Gaudet, D. Branton, and R. A. Lue Characterization of PDZ-binding kinase, a mitotic kinase PNAS, May 9, 2000; 97(10): 5167 - 5172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]