A refined model of claudin-15 tight junction paracellular architecture by molecular dynamics simulations.

ABSTRACT: Tight-junctions between epithelial cells of biological barriers are specialized molecular structures that regulate the flux of solutes across the barrier, parallel to cell walls. The tight-junction backbone is made of strands of transmembrane proteins from the claudin family, but the molecular mechanism of its function is still not completely understood. Recently, the crystal structure of a mammalian claudin-15 was reported, displaying for the first time the detailed features of transmembrane and extracellular domains. Successively, a structural model of claudin-15-based paracellular channels has been proposed, suggesting a putative assembly that illustrates how claudins associate in the same cell (via cis interactions) and across adjacent cells (via trans interactions). Although very prom

SUBMITTER: Alberini G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5581167 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature