Tight Junction Protein Claudins and its Abnormal Expression in the Lung Cancer

Tight junction protein-claudins is one of the major component of the tight juriction and tight junctions are composed by occludin、tricellulin、junctional adhesion molecules(JAMs)、CRB-3 and Bves.It can maintain cell polarity and the selective permeability of tight junction.At least 26 kinds of claudins had been found out and they distribute in various tissues.A variety of signaling molecules are involved in adjusting their expression,which show tissue specificity.The abnormal expression of claudins has close connection with malignant tumor.Moreover,claudin-1、claudin-3、claudin-4 and claudin-5 have obvious over-expression in lung cancer.And this found can offer an area ripe for harvesting tumor markers as well as therapeutic targets.