Morphological and Functional Analyses of the Tight Junction in the Palatal Epithelium of Mouse

Tight junction (TJ) is one of the cell-cell junctions and known to have the barrier and fence functions between adjacent cells in both simple and stratified epithelia. We examined the distribution pattern, constitutive proteins, and permeability of TJ in the stratified squamous epithelium of the palatal mucosa of mice. Ultrastructural observations based on the ultrathin section and freeze-fracture methods revealed that poorly developed TJs are located at the upper layer of the stratum granulosum. The positive immunofluorescence of occludin (OCD), claudin (CLD)-1 and -4 were localized among the upper layer of the stratum granulosum showing a dot-like distribution pattern. And CLD-1 and -4 were localized among the stratum spinosum and the lower part of stratum granulosum additionally showed a positive reaction along the cell profiles. Western blotting of TJ constitutive proteins showed OCD, CLD-1, -2, -4, and -5 bands. The permeability test using biotin as a tracer revealed both the areas where biotin passed through beyond OCD positive points and the areas where biotin stopped at OCD positive points. These results show that poor TJs localize at the upper layer of the stratum granulosum of the palatal epithelium, and the TJs are leaky and include at least CLD-1 and -4.