TRPV4 Regulates Tight Junctions and Affects Differentiation in a Cell Culture Model of the Corneal Epithelium

What is it about?

We analyzed the regulation of tight junction assembly by TRPV4, a Calcium channel that is normally associated to temperature and osmolarity sensing in different cell types. We believed that such analysis was important since there should be some mechanisms that link cell differentiation with tight junction assembly in stratified epithelia. We thought that this issue is important since tight junction assembly in stratifies epithelia is only found at the top tissue layers, in contrast with simple epithelia which only depend upon cell-cell contact to constitute an impermeable barrier. Our results remark the importance of TRPV4 during development of the epithelial barrier in corneal tissue.

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