Anovelfourtransmembranespanningprotein, CLP24
A hypoxicallyregulatedcelljunction protein
Jonathan Kearsey, Silvere Petit, Catherine De Oliveira and Fabien Schweighoffer
ExonHit Therapeutics, Paris, France
A novelhypoxicallyregulated intercellular junction protein
(claudin-like protein of 24 kDa, CLP24) has been identified
that shows homology to the myelin protein 22/epithelial
membrane protein 1/claudin family of celljunction proteins,
which are involved in the modulation of paracellular per-
meability. The CLP24protein contains four predicted
transmembrane domains and a C-terminal protein–protein
interaction domain. These domains are characteristic of the
four transmembranespanning (tetraspan) family of pro-
teins, which includes myelin protein 22, and are involved
in cell adhesion at tight, gap and adherens junctions.
Expression profiling analyses show that CLP24 is highly
expressed in lung, heart, kidney and placental tissues.
Cellular studies confirm that the CLP24protein localizes
to cell–cell junctions and co-localizes with the b-catenin
adherens junction-associated protein but not with tight
junctions. Over-expression of CLP24 results in decreased
adhesion between cells, and functional paracellular flux
studies confirm that over-expression of the CLP24 protein
modulates the junctional barrier function. These data
therefore suggest that CLP24 is a novel, hypoxically regu-
lated tetraspan adherens junctionprotein that modulates
cell adhesion, paracellular permeability and angiogenesis.
Keywords: adherens; angiogenesis; claudin; DATAS; hyp-
oxia.
Endothelial and epithelial cell sheets line all the cavities of
the body and are linked by specialized adhesive junctions
that provide a selective barrier for the passage of plasma
proteins, circulating cells, water and/or solutes. Two types
of adhesive junctions, namely tight junctions and adherens
junctions, play a major role in controlling this paracellular
barrier function [1,2]. Tight junctions are required at the
apical face of the cell junctions in order to maintain a
selective paracellular barrier. Adherens junctions are located
below the tight junction at the apical junction and are
required for tight junction formation and the maintenance
of barrier integrity. Adhesion junctions also contribute to
vascular morphogenesis in endothelial cells [3]. Adherens
junctions undergo changes following a reduction in oxygen
levels (hypoxia), in order to allow the initiation of an
angiogenic response that requires increased vascular per-
meability, endothelial cell proliferation and migration [3,4].
ln addition to providing barrier and morphological func-
tions, these cell junctions are targeted by a variety of
signaling processes involved in normal physiology (cell
growth and differentiation) and pathology [2,5].
All cell junctions, including tight and adherens junctions,
are composed of transmembrane proteins that show
structural, but often little sequence, homology. These
transmembrane proteins comprise four transmembrane
domains, together with extracellular loop regions that
interact adhesively with complementary molecules in adja-
cent cells to form the junction. This structural family of
proteins (tetraspan proteins) includes connexins/innexins
and peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22)/epithelial
membrane protein 1 (EMP1)/claudin members, which are
involved in gap and tight junctions, respectively [6,7].
Claudins have been shown to be one of the structural
adhesive components of tight junctions [2]. PMP22 was
originally isolated as a growth arrest specific transcript (Gas
3), induced following serum deprivation of fibroblasts [8].
PMP22 was subsequently shown to be a major component
of myelinated fibers in the peripheral nervous system and
associated with tight junctions [6,9,10]. Mutations of the
gene encoding PMP22 cause Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease
Type 1A, Dejerine–Sottas syndrome and hereditary neuro-
pathy [11]. Both Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease and
Dejerine–Sottas syndrome are sensorineural peripheral
polyneuropathies, the most commonly inherited disorder
of the peripheral nervous system [12]. Sequence similarity
and co-localization studies show that PMP22 is a tight
junction associated transmembraneprotein in both neur-
onal and non-neuronal cells [6]. Thus, the PMP22 gene
product is a dual-function protein, involved in both tight
junctions adhesion and cell proliferation.
This study describes the identification and characteriza-
tion of anoveltransmembrane junctional protein with
structural homology to the tetraspan family of proteins.
This gene was identified in a screen for hypoxically regulated
genes in endothelial cells that could provide angiogenic
therapeutic targets. Sequence analyses show that this novel
Correspondence to F. Schweighoffer, ExonHit Therapeutics, 65 Bd
Masse
´
na, 75013 Paris, France. Fax: + 33 1 53 94 77 04,
Tel.: + 33 1 53 94 77 69, E-mail: fabien.schweighoffer@exonhit.com
Abbreviations: CLP24, claudin-like protein of 24 kDa; EGFP, green
fluorescent protein; EMP1, epithelial membrane protein 1; EST,
expressed sequence tag; HKG, housekeeping gene; HMEC, human
microvascular endothelial cells; PDZ, protein–protein interaction
domain; PMP22, myelin protein 22; TMHMM, transmembrane
hidden Marckoff model: ZO-1, Zona Occluden-1.
Note: a website is available at http://www.exonhit.com/
(Received 11 February 2004, revised 19 April 2004,
accepted 26 April 2004)
Eur. J. Biochem. 271, 2584–2592 (2004) Ó FEBS 2004 doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.2004.04186.x
protein is most closely related to PMP22, a claudin cell
junction-associated family member. This novel gene prod-
uct has therefore been called claudin-like protein of 24 kDa
(CLP24). The protein product of the CLP24 gene contains
four transmembranespanning domains together with a C-
terminal protein–protein interaction (PDZ) domain. CLP24
is most highly expressed in lung, heart, kidney and placenta,
showing little similarity to the expression patterns of other
PMP22/EMP1/claudin members. However, this is not
unexpected as distinct tissue-distribution profiles are
observed for all the PMP22/EMP1/claudin family members,
which allows regulation of paracellular specificity between
different endothelial cell types [2,13].
Expression studies using recombinant CLP24-enhanced
green fluorescent protein (EGFP) demonstrated that CLP24
localizes to cell junctions. Co-localization studies were
performed using recombinant CLP24-EGFP together with
antibodies against either the cell adhesion molecule,
b-catenin, or the tight junction Zona Occluden-1 (ZO-1)
associated protein. These experiments demonstrated that
CLP24 was localized to regions of the membrane associated
with adherens junctions, but with little association to the
tight junction components at the apical face. Over-expres-
sion of CLP24 increased paracellular permeability across an
endothelial monolayer, confirming that CLP24 acts as a
structural component in cell junctions. These data therefore
suggest that a novel, although distantly related, member of
the claudin/PMP22 family of proteins has been identified.
However, CLP24 appears to be distinct from many PMP22/
EMP1/claudin members, in that CLP24 influences paracel-
lular permeability through its interaction with adherens,
rather than tight junction components.
Materials and methods
Cell culture
Immortalized human microvascular endothelial cells
[HMEC-1; CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Preven-
tion), Atlanta, GA, USA) were cultured in MCDB-131
medium (Sigma) supplemented with 15% (w/v) heat-
inactivated fetal bovine serum (Invitrogen), 2 m
ML
-glut-
amine (Invitrogen), 100 UÆmL
)1
penicillin (Invitrogen),
100 lgÆmL
)1
streptomycin (Invitrogen), 10 ngÆmL
)1
human
recombinant EGF (Invitrogen) and 1 lgÆmL
)1
hydrocorti-
sone. MDCK (a canine normal kidney cell line; ATCC) and
Calu-6 (a human, lung carcinoma cell line; ATCC) cells
were cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium
supplemented with Glutamax (Invitrogen), 10% (w/v)
heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum, 100 UÆmL
)1
penicillin,
and 100 lgÆmL
)1
streptomycin. For hypoxic treatments,
cells were grown in an atmosphere of 3% O
2
in an IG750
incubator (Jouan, France), or in the presence of
100 lgÆmL
)1
desferrioxamine. The HMEC-1 and Calu-6
cell lines were chosen as they both express CLP24 mRNA
(data not shown for Calu-6).
Differential analysis of transcripts with alternative
splicing (DATAS)
This technology has been previously described by Sch-
weighoffer et al. [14]. Briefly, first-strand cDNAs were
reverse transcribed from HMEC-1 total RNA (treated
either with normoxia or hypoxia) using the Superscript II
RT kit (Invitrogen) and an anchored biotinylated oligo-
dT
25
. cDNAs were then treated with RNAse I followed
by proteinase K and phenol/chloroform extraction. mRNA
from normoxic HMEC-1 cells and cDNA from hypoxic
HMEC-1 cells were mixed at a 1 : 1 molar ratio and
precipitated using sodium acetate and ethanol. The recip-
rocal experiment with mRNA from hypoxic HMEC-1 cells
and cDNA from normoxic HMEC-1 cells was also
performed. The pellet was redissolved in 80% formamide/
0.1% SDS, and heteroduplexes were allowed to form by
denaturation at 85 °C and gradual cooling to 40 °C.
Heteroduplexes were then isolated using streptavidin beads
(no. 112.06; Dynal) and the single-stranded RNA released
by the action of RNAse H (no. 18021-071; Invitrogen).
Residual cDNA was removed by extraction using strept-
avidin beads and treatment with DNAse I. The isolated
single-stranded RNA molecules were reverse transcribed
using the Superscript II RT kit and random hexamer
primers. The cDNAs were amplified by PCR (using the
DOP PCR methodology [15]) with six different anchored
degenerate primers, purified using spin columns and cloned
(pCR II-TOPO vector, no. 45-0640; Invitrogen). Following
transformation and plating onto LB (Luria–Bertani) plates
containing ampicillin (100 lgÆmL
)1
), recombinant bacterial
colonies were isolated and the cloned cDNA was sequenced.
This library was designated HMEC-EHT1.
cDNA array generation
Each cDNA was amplified from a bacterial colony by
performing PCR amplifications using SP6-T7 primers. Each
PCR product (600 lL final volume) was concentrated and
visualized on an agarose gel before spotting. The PCR
products were arrayed on 8 · 12 cm nylon filters that were
spotted in duplicate using a QPix robot (GenePix 4000;
Axon) with the nonredundant human HMEC-EHT1
cDNA library. Arrayed nylon filters were stored at 4 °C
until use.
Probe labelling and hybridizations
To make a single probe, 50 ng of total RNA (from
normoxic or hypoxic HMEC cells) was used to generate
double-stranded cDNA with the MMLV RT (Invitrogen)
using an anchored oligo-dT primer [5¢-CCTATTGTTTGT
GTGTGTCC-3¢ RN1-oligo(dT)
25
]. PCR amplification,
using an RN1 primer, was performed and the amplified
products were measured by a fluorometric method (Pico-
Green quantitation kit; Interchim). The cDNAs were
labeled with redivue, stabilized [
33
P]dCTP[aP] (Rediprime
II, Amersham) and hybridized according to the manufac-
turer’s instructions. After hybridization, the filters were
quantified by scanning densitometry using a Biorad Mole-
cular Imager and evaluated using biostatistical analyses.
cDNA cloning and construct generation
Total RNA from HMEC-1 and Calu-6 cell lines were
reverse transcribed using the multiscribe RNA polymerase
and random hexamer primers (Archive kit; Applera). PCR
Ó FEBS 2004 CLP24 – ahypoxicallyregulatedcelljunctionprotein (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2585
amplification of the full-length open reading frame of
CLP24 was achieved using a proofreading DNA poly-
merase (Platinum Pfx DNA polymerase; Invitrogen), and
by using the sense primer TTTGAATTCCCACCATG
ACCGTGCAGAGACTC (containing the ATG start
codon of CLP24, together with a Kozak sequence and an
EcoRI restriction site), and the antisense primer, AAAG
GATCCAGGCATGGTGACTCCACGTA (containing a
BamHI restriction site). PCR conditions were: 94 °Cfor
30 seconds, 58 °C for 30 seconds, 68 °C for 1 min, for 35
cycles. The PCR product was cloned in the pCRII TOPO
vector (Invitrogen) and sequenced using an automatic
sequencer (Applied Biosystems model 3100). A C-terminal
EGFP-CLP24 fusion construct was then generated by
cloning the CLP24 open reading frame into vector pEGFP-
N1 (BD Biosciences) using the EcoRI and BamHI restric-
tion sites. Recombinant HMEC-1/CLP24-EGFP and
MDCK/CLP24-EGFP cells were established after transfec-
tion with the full-length CLP24 cDNA in pEGFP-N1 (BD
Biosciences) and selection of stably transfected cells with
150 lgÆmL
)1
and 400 lgÆmL
)1
geneticin, respectively.
Bioinformatic analysis
Bioinformatic analyses were performed using Genetics
Computer Group (GCG) software, including
BLAST
,the
multiple sequence alignment tool
CLUSTALW
,andthe
pairwise alignment tool
GAP
(BLOTSUM 55). In addition,
membrane protein prediction (
TMHMM
),
SCANSITE
and
PRO-
SITE
software have been used to characterize CLP24 [16,17].
PCR
The expression of CLP24 in different tissues and cells was
determined by PCR. The cDNA from a number of different
human tissues (Clonetech), together with human epithelial
[Calu-6 (a lung carcinoma cell line), RCC4 (a renal
carcinoma cell line), NTERA-2 (a neuronal precursor
epithelial cell line), H1299 (a nonsmall cell carcinoma cell
line), HepG2 (a hepatocellular carcinoma cell line) and the
breast cell lines MDA-MD231, MDA-MB-435, MCF7,
BT549 and T-47D (ATCC) and endothelial (HMEC
and HUVEC) cell lines, were characterized. PCR was
performed, using standard PCR conditions [Amp-
litaq (0.075 UÆmL; Applied Biosystems), anti-taq Ig
(0.075 UÆmL; Invitrogen), 15 m
M
MgCl
2
,1· buffer 1
(Applied Biosystems), dNTPs (0.2 m
M
, Invitrogen) and
0.5 m
M
of each primer]. Thirty-five cycles of PCR were
performed using an annealing temperature of 60 °C. The
primers selected for the specific expression of CLP24 were
5¢-CCCTAGCAGCGTCGGCT-3¢ and 5¢-CGTTGCGCT
AACCAGGAAAG-3¢, which give an amplicon size of 1002
bp. PCR products were visualized following separation on a
1% agarose gel.
Real-time quantitative RT-PCR
CLP24 differential gene expression has been monitored by
quantitative real-time RT-PCR (Q-RT-PCR) using Taq-
Man technology. In brief, total RNA from HMEC-1 and
Calu-6 cells were isolated using the Trizol kit (Invitrogen),
then 5 lg of total RNA was reverse transcribed using the
multiscribe RNA polymerase and random hexamer primers
(Archive kit; Applera). Real-time PCR was performed on
an ABI Prism 7700 Sequence Detector machine (Applera)
andanalyzedusing
SDS
, version 1.6.3, software. The primers
(Life Technologies, Inc.) and TaqMan probes (Eurogentec)
for the quantification of the CLP24 transcripts were
designed using the primer design software,
PRIMER EXPRESS
(Applera) except for human b-actin where commercially
available assay reagents were used (Applera). Initial experi-
ments were performed to define a housekeeping gene
(HKG) whose level remained constant following hypoxic
treatment. Two HKG were tested (b-actin and b2-micro-
globulin) and two separate primer sets were tested for
b-actin. The b-actin primers were purchased from Applied
Biosystems (b-actin control reagent 401846). b2-microglob-
ulin primers were: 5¢-GGACTGGTCTTTCTATCTCTTG
TACTAC and 3¢-AGTCACATGGTTCACACGGC. Only
minor variation across the HKG primer sets was observed
between treated and nontreated samples, and the b-actin
HKG was selected for further experimental analyses.
Primer sequences for CLP24 were: forward primer,
5¢-CGTTTACTGTTATGTCGGTCATAT-3¢ and reverse
primer, 5¢- GTTGCGCTAACCAGGAAAGC-3¢; probe
sequence: CLP24,5¢-TGTCGTGGGCCAACCTCGTT
CTG-3¢. Specificity of the PCR amplification was confirmed
on an agarose gel. The PCR reactions were carried out using
TaqMan universal PCR master mix (Applera). For CLP24,
both primers were used at 150 n
M
and the probe at 100 n
M
.
The TaqMan PCR reaction conditions were: 2 min at
50 °C, 10 min at 95 °C, then 40 cycles each of 15 s at 95 °C
and 1 min at 60 °C. Each plate contained triplicates of the
test cDNA templates, a standard curve for the individual
amplicon, and no-template controls for each reaction mix.
Standard curves were generated for each amplicon in order
to determine PCR amplification efficiency. The Ct value is
defined as the number of PCR cycles required for the
fluorescence signal to exceed the detection threshold value.
The fold difference (F) was calculated and normalized to
the levels for the established HKG, b-actin, according the
following formula that is a derivation of that defined by
Plaffl et al. [18]:
F ¼ f½ð1 þ E
target
Þ
ÀCt target
=ð1 þ E
HKG
Þ
ÀCt HKG
conditionA
g=
f½ð1 þ E
target
Þ
ÀCt target
=ð1 þ E
HKG
Þ
ÀCt HKG
conditionB
g
where: F, fold induction; E
target
, PCR amplification effi-
ciency of the target gene; Ct target, threshold cycle of the
PCR amplification of the target gene; E
HKG
, PCR ampli-
fication efficiency of the housekeeping gene; Ct HKG,
threshold cycle of the PCR amplification of the housekeep-
ing gene; condition A, normoxic; condition B, hypoxic.
Northern blot analysis
A human Northern blot (no. 7780-1; Clontech ) was used
and a
32
P-labeled random-primed DNA probe was gener-
ated using the full-length CLP24 transcript and the Strip-EZ
RNA Ambion kit (no. 1360). The blot was prehybridized
in ULTRAhyb hybridization buffer (no. 8670, Ambion)
for 2 h at 68 °C and the probe denatured at 95 °Cfor
10 min. The blot was hybridized overnight at 68 °C, washed
as described by the manufacturer, and exposed to
2586 J. Kearsey et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
Kodak Biomax MS film with a transcreen-HE intensifying
screen.
Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy
The following antibodies were obtained commercially:
mouse against b-catenin (no. 610153; BD Biosciences
Pharmingen) and rabbit against ZO-1 (no. 61-7300;
Zymed). Cells were plated on coverslips, rinsed twice with
NaCl/P
i
(phosphate-buffered saline) and subsequently fixed
in 4% paraformaldehyde for 20 min. After washing with
NaCl/P
i
, cells were permeabilized with 0.1% Triton for
5 min. Then, cells were blocked with Powerblock (universal
blocking agent; Biogenex) for 15 min to minimize nonspe-
cific binding. Cells were incubated with primary and
secondary antibodies in blocking buffer for 30 min, fol-
lowed by three washes with NaCl/P
i
after each incubation.
The primary antibody was visualized using the appropri-
ate Cy3-conjugated anti-mouse or anti-rabbit secondary
antibodies [Cy3-conjugated F(ab¢)
2
fragments; Jackson
Immuno Research). Finally, the cells were mounted with
fluorescence mounting medium (Fluosave, Molecular
Probes) and viewed with a confocal imaging system (model:
Leica TCS SPZ and software:
LCS
Software, Leica,
Heidelburg, Germany). Output wavelengths were 488, 543
and 633 nm, EGFP fluorescence was imaged at 510 nm. A
cross-sectional image (x–z) through the junction was
computer generated in order to assess the localization of
proteins within tight or adherens junctions. Phase-contrast
images were taken using a Nikon Elispe TE300 microscope
together with a Nikon CoolPix 990 camera.
Paracellular tracer flux measurement of a 3 kDa
FITC-labeled dextran molecule
For paracellular tracer flux assay, MDCK cells expressing
either EGF alone or the CLP24-EGF fusion protein were
seeded onto acell culture 8 lm pore size insert (no. 3097;
Becton Dickinson), at a density of 10
5
cells per filter,
and cultured for 5–6 days [19]. To measure paracellular
flux, Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium, containing
0.5 mgÆmL
)1
of 3 kDa FITC-labeled dextran (Molecular
Probes), was added to the apical compartment and aliquots
from the basal compartment were collected over an 8 h
period (37 °C). The amount of FITC-dextran that diffused
from the apical to the basolateral side of the cellular layer
was measured by using a fluorimeter (Fluoroscan Ascent
FL; Thermolabsystem). The permeability coefficient was
calculated using the following formula:
DF=Dt ¼ PÃS,
where DF/Dt is the rate of the increase of the fluorescence
signal in the basal chamber, P is the permeability (cmÆmin
)1
)
coefficient, and S is the surface of the insert.
Results
Hypoxic regulation of
CLP24
The aim of this study was to identify novel genes regulated
by hypoxia. Macroarray expression profiling studies were
performed using RNA isolated from hypoxic (3% O
2
,16h)
and normoxic HMEC-1 in order to identify differentially
regulated cDNA transcripts within the HMEC-EHT1
cDNA library. One of the differentially expressed tran-
scripts identified in this study was found to be homologous
to an expressed sequence tag (EST) sequence that represents
a novel uncharacterized gene (GenBank accession number:
NM_024600). This transcript was upregulated in HMEC-1
cells treated with hypoxia. An induction of 2.93-fold
(± 0.85) was observed in hypoxic (3% O
2
,16h)HMEC-
1 cells compared to normoxic HMEC-1 cells. Further
confirmation of hypoxic regulation was obtained through
independent experiments using the chemical agent desfer-
rioxamine (100 l
M
for 16 h) to induce a hypoxic response in
HMEC-1 cultures. This treatment resulted in a 3.16-fold
(± 0.30) induction of CLP24 in hypoxic cells compared to
sham-treated HMEC-1 cells.
Independent validation of the macroarray data for
CLP24 was obtained using real-time quantitative PCR on
total RNA from normoxic and hypoxic HMEC-1 and
Calu-6 (lung carcinoma) cell lines. Gaseous hypoxia treat-
ment induced a strong upregulation of CLP24 expression in
the endothelial cell line, HMEC-1, and the epithelial cell
line, Calu-6, with an induction factor of 5.3- and 10.4-fold,
respectively, thus confirming the hypoxic induction of the
CLP24 transcript in two different cell types.
Bioinformatic characterization of CLP24
RT-PCR was used to clone the full-length open reading
frame of human CLP24, using cDNA from the HMEC-1
and Calu-6 human cell lines. Cloning and sequencing of
independent clones from both these cell lines revealed the
insertion of a cytidine residue within the open reading frame
of CLP24 (position 1102) compared to the sequence
deposited in GenBank (NM_024600). This extra base was
found in every amplified cDNA from the two cell lines and
bioinformatic analysis confirmed the presence of this extra
cytidine residue in both the human genomic sequence
(accession numbers AC046159 and AC096995) and in all
homologous Homo sapiens ESTs analyzed. The insertion of
this cytidine residue results in a frameshift in the protein
coding sequence and a divergent C-terminal sequence
compared with NM_024600. The correct cDNA and amino
acid sequence of CLP24 isshowninFig.1.
The full-length human CLP24 cDNA is 1871 nucleotides
in length, containing a 226-amino acid open reading frame
(621–1301) with a calculated molecular mass of 24.54 kDa
and a predicted pI of 8.10. An in-frame stop codon is
present 21 nucleotides upstream of the methionine start
codon, and a kozak consensus sequence is also present
(Fig.1).Theuseofmembraneproteinpredictionsoftware
(
TMHMM
) [17] predicted the CLP24protein to be composed
of four alpha-helical transmembrane domains. The
TMHMM
analyses also revealed that the first extracellular loop of
CLP24 is longer than the second and that CLP24 contains
only a very short N-terminal cytoplasmic tail, but a longer
C-terminal tail (Fig. 1). Furthermore, motif-scanning ana-
lysis (scansite.mit.edu [20]), revealed a PMP22/EMP1/
claudin homologous domain within the CLP24 sequence
(Fig. 1B) and a potential class 1 PDZ protein–protein
interaction motif in the last 10 amino acids of the
CLP24 protein [20]. A glycosylation site within the second
Ó FEBS 2004 CLP24 – ahypoxicallyregulatedcelljunctionprotein (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2587
extracellular loop of CLP24 is also predicted. An amino acid
comparison between PMP22 and claudin family members
showed only a weak homology with CLP24; however, this
low level of sequence homology is characteristic of a number
of PMP22/EMP1/claudin family members, including VAB-
9 and MP20 [21,22]. Even though the amino acid sequence
of CLP24 is only distantly related to that of PMP22/EMP1/
claudin, the predicted structure of the CLP24protein shows
a number of similarities to this tight junctionprotein family
that support the notion that CLP24 is acell junction-
associated protein. The PMP22/EMP1/claudin family all
have fourtransmembrane segments, most family members
contain a C-terminal PDZ domain-interacting motif and the
first extracellular loop is larger than the second and is
believed to bridge the extracellular space (Fig. 2) [17,23,24].
These structural motifs are all present within CLP24 and,
together with the observation that CLP24 is expressed in
both endothelial and epithelial cell lines, provides further
support for the suggestion that CLP24 is anovel member of
the PMP22/EMP1/claudin fourtransmembrane junctional
protein family; thus it has been designated CLP24 for
claudin-like protein of 24 kDa.
Comparison of rattus, murine, gallus, porcine and bovine
ESTs reveals a high level of conservation of CLP24 nucleic
acid sequence between species. The translated protein
sequences were aligned using
CLUSTALW
software (Fig. 3).
The rat, mouse and chicken sequences were found to be
89%, 87% and 81% identical to that of human, respectively.
CLP24 tissue-specific expression
The tissue distribution of CLP24 was characterized by
Northern blot analyses (Fig. 4) and showed the presence of
a 1.9kb transcript in lung, heart, kidney and placenta.
aaaaaacaaccatttcctctctgctgagagccagggaaggcgagctctgc
gcacacgggcgtccctgcagcagccactctgctttccaggaccggccaac
tgccctggaggcatccacacaggggcccaggcagcacagaggagctgtga
acccgctccacaccggccaccctgcccggagcctggcactcacagcaggc
cggtgctaaggagtgtggcgcgggctcgactcccactgctgccggcctcc
cgagtgactctgttttccactgctgcaggcgagaagaggcacgcgcggca
caggccggcctccgcttcccgggaagacggcgcactcctggccctgggtt
cttgctgctgcccaccctctgctccctgggatgggccccgaggcgagcag
cttcagcacaggcctggccctgctccaggtgcaggaaggaggataaggcc
gggccgagaggcggcacacctggaccatcccatgggcctccgcccgcgcc
gccccgaggatgagtggtgatgtcctctagccacccctagcagcgtcggc
tctccctggacgtgcggccgcggactgggacttggctttctccggataag
cggcggcaccggcgtcagcgATGACCGTGCAGAGACTCGTGGCCGCGGCC
MTVQRLV AA A
GTGCTGGTGGCCCTGGTCTCACTCATCCTCAACAACGTGGCGGCCTTCAC
V L V A L V S L I L N N V A
A F T
CTCCAACTGGGTGTGCCAGACGCTGGAGGATGGGCGCAGGCGCAGCGTGG
S N W V C Q T L E D G R R R S V G
GGCTGTGGAGGTCCTGCTGGCTGGTGGACAGGACCCGGGGAGGGCCGAGC
L W R S C W L V D R T R G G P S
CCTGGGGCCAGAGCCGGCCAGGTGGACGCACATGACTGTGAGGCGCTGGG
P G A R A G Q V D A H D C E A L G
CTGGGGCTCCGAGGCAGCCGGCTTCCAGGAGTCCCGAGGCACCGTCAAAC
W G S E AA G F Q E S R G T V K L
TGCAGTTCGACATGATGCGCGCCTGCAACCTGGTGGCCACGGCCGCGCTC
Q F D M M R A C N L V A T AA L
ACCGCAGGCCAGCTCACCTTCCTCCTGGGGCTGGTGGGCCTGCCCCTGCT
T A G Q L T F L L G L V G
L P L L
GTCACCCGACGCCCCGTGCTGGGAGGAGGCCATGGCCGCTGCATTCCAAC
S P D A P C W E E A M AAA F Q L
TGGCGAGTTTTGTCCTGGTCATCGGGCTCGTGACTTTCTACAGAATTGGC
A S F V L V I G L V T F Y R I G
CCATACACCAACCTGTCCTGGTCCTGCTACCTGAACATTGGCGCCTGCCT
P Y T
N L S W S C Y L N I G A C L
TCTGGCCACGCTGGCGGCAGCCATGCTCATCTGGAACATTCTCCACAAGA
L A T L AAA M L I W N I
L H K R
GGGAGGACTGCATGGCCCCCCGGGTGATTGTCATCAGCCGCTCCCTGACA
E D C M A P R V I V I S R S L T
GCGCGCTTTCGCCGTGGGCTGGACAATGACTACGTGGAGTCACCATGCTG
A R F R R G L D N D Y V E S P C *
Agtcgcccttctcagcgttccatcgatgcacacctgctatcgtggaacag
cctagaaaccaagggactccaccaccaagtcacttcccctgctcgtgcag
aggcacgggatgagtctgggtgacctctgcgccatgcgtgcgagacacgt
gtgcgtttactgttatgtcggtcatatgtctgtacgtgtcgtgggccaac
ctcgttctgcctccagctttcctggttagcgcaacgcggctccacgacca
cacgcacttcagggtggaagctggaagctgagacacaggttaggtggcgc
gaggctgccctgcgctccgctttgctttgggattaatttattctgcatct
gctgagaggggcaccccagccatatcttacactttggtaaagcagaaaac
caggaaaattttcttaaaatatccacaatattccttgagtgagtcagaat
ctatagccggttagtgatggtttcaggcagaatcgtgttcgtgtctgttt
tgctcgattcctttcctaagtta
aataaa
tgcaagcctctgaacttctgt
ctataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
1
51
101
151
201
251
301
351
401
451
501
551
601
1
651
11
701
28
751
45
801
61
851
78
901
95
951
111
1001
128
1051
145
1101
161
1151
178
1201
195
1251
211
1301
1351
1401
1451
1501
1551
1601
1651
1701
1751
1801
1851
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
650
10
700
27
750
44
800
60
850
77
900
94
950
110
1000
127
1050
144
1100
160
1150
177
1200
194
1250
210
1300
226
1350
1400
1450
1500
1550
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1871
PMP22 1 MLLLLLSIIVLHVAVLVL.LF VSTI-VSQWIVGNG HATDLWQNC 42
ml+lLl iivlh+a L LF Vsti qW v +LW +C
Consensus mlvlLlgiivlhiawviL.Lf.VsTiPtdqWkvsdyvgdniiTaaaasaGLWrnC
m v l + +a v L L V t W s GLWr+C
CLP24 1 MTVQRLVAAAVLVALVSLILnnVAAF-TSNWVCQTLED GRRRSVGLWRSQ 49
B
A
Fig. 1. Nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequences of
human claudin-like protein of 24 kDa (CLP24). (A) Uppercase letters
represent the coding sequence, lowercase letters represent 5¢-and
3¢-untranslated regions (UTR). The CLP24 sequence has an inser-
tion of a C at position 1102 compared with NM_024600 (bold). This
insertion within the protein coding sequence results in a divergent
amino acid sequence as compared with NM_024600. The potential
N-glycosylation site is marked with a circle. The protein trans-
membrane domains are underlined. The protein–protein interaction
domain-interacting motif is boxed. The italic region in the 3¢-UTR
is a consensus polyadenylation sequence. *, Stop codon. (B) Align-
ment of the conserved motifs of the CLP24 and myelin protein 22
(PMP22) amino acid sequence against the PMP22/epithelial mem-
brane protein 1 (EMP1)/claudin family consensus sequence using
motif-scanning analysis (http://scansite.mit.edu). Uppercase letters
show conserved amino acids between PMP22/EMP1/claudin family
members.
N
C
Extracellular loop
Claudins 10-21 aa
CLP21 6 aa
Extracellular loop
Claudins 41-55 aa
CLP24 68 aa
Intracellular loop
Claudins 21-42 aa
CLP24 35 aa
PDZ domain
Fig. 2. Membrane folding model of claudin-like protein of 24 kDa
(CLP24) and myelin protein 22 (PMP22)/epithelial membrane protein 1
(EMP1)/claudin family members. Schematic representation of the
tetraspan structure of the CLP24protein compared with PMP22/
EMP1/claudin family members. Both CLP24 and PMP22/claudin
members show fourtransmembrane domains, a C-terminal protein–
protein interaction domain (PDZ), and a characteristic extracellular
loop structure. Approximate sizes (number of amino acids) of the
extracellular and intracellular domains are given for the claudin/
PMP22 family and CLP24.
2588 J. Kearsey et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
Transcripts were also detected in thymus, spleen and liver,
but at lower levels. A similar tissue distribution was
observed by RT-PCR using a panel of cDNAs from human
tissues (multiple tissue cDNA panel; Clonetech). This
analysis showed CLP24 to be expressed in testis, spleen
and ovary, but not in prostate (data not shown).
CLP24 is expressed in a number of different tissues that
contain epithelial cell tight junctions, including lung and
kidney, together with tissue containing high levels of blood
vessel endothelial cells, including the placenta and lung.
Further confirmation of endothelium- and epithelium-
specific expression was sought through expression profiling
of human cell lines. As described above, CLP24 is expressed
within the HMEC-1 and primary endothelial cells
(HUVEC). RT-PCR expression analysis showed the
CLP24 gene to be expressed in a number of the human
epithelial cell lines, including the Calu-6 lung carcinoma cell
line, the RCC4 renal carcinoma cell line and the NTERA-2
(NT2) neuronal precursor epithelial cell line. CLP24 is not,
however, expressed ubiquitously in all epithelium-contain-
ing tissues and cell lines. No CLP24 expression was detected
in epithelial cell lines, including the nonsmall cell carcinoma
cell line, H1299, the hepatocellular carcinoma, HepG2, or
the breast carcinoma cell lines, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-
435, MCF7, BT-549, or T-47D (data not shown).These
data therefore demonstrate that CLP24 is expressed within
specific epithelial and endothelial cell populations, which is
consistent with that expected for acell junction-associated
protein.
Localization of exogenously expressed CLP24
To further assess whether CLP24 is a member of the
PMP22/EMP1/claudin family, the subcellular localization
of CLP24 was determined using recombinant CLP24 fused
to a green fluorescent protein (CLP24-EGFP). Transfection
and translation of this plasmid construct was used to
monitor the subcellular location of CLP24 in a number of
cell lines, including MDCK and HMEC-1. Analysis of
stably transfected clones demonstrated that the CLP24-
EGFP fluorescence signal was localized to intercellular
junctions (Fig. 5A), in a similar manner to b-catenin and
ZO-1.
To confirm the association of CLP24 with tight junction
components, co-localization experiments, using the tight
junction ZO-1 or adherens junction b-catenin markers, were
performed. MDCK cells were stably transfected with a
CLP24-EGFP fusion construct and immunocytochemistry
was performed using either anti-ZO-1 or anti-b-catenin Ig.
Figure 5A shows good co-localization of CLP24-EGFP
with ZO-1 and b-catenin to the intercellular junctions.
b-catenin and ZO-1 are, however, associated with different
compartments of the intercellular junction, namely the
adherens and tight junctions, respectively. The tight junction
is found at the apical face, whereas the adherens junction is
more basal. The view shown in Fig. 5A looks vertically
through the intercellular junction and is therefore unable to
distinguish tight from adherens junction components
because the tight junction is directly above the adherens
junction. More precise localization studies were therefore
H. sapiens 1 MTVQRLVAAAVLVALVSLILNNVAAFTSNWVCQTLEDGRRRSVGLWRSCWLVDRTRGGPSPGARAGQVDAHDCEALGWGSEAAGFQESRGTVKLQFDMMR
R. norvegicus 1 MTVQKLVATAVLVALVSLILNNAAAFTPNWVYQTLEDGRKRSVGLWKSCWLVDRGKGGTSPGTRTGQVDTHDCEVLGWGSESAGFQESRGTVKLQFDMMR
M. musculus 1 MTLQKLVATAVLVALVSLILNNAAAFTPNWVYQTLEDGRKRSVGLWKSCWLVDRGKGVTSPGTRTGQVDTHDCEVLGWGSESAGFQESRGTVKLQFDMMR
G. gallus 1 MTVQKLVATAVLVALVSLILNNAAAFTPNWVYQTLEDGRKRSVGLWKMCWLAERSRAGASTSSRHGQGEERECEALGWGSESAGFQESRSTVKLQFDMMR
S. scrofa 1 MTVXKVVATAVLVALVSLVLNNVAALTPNWVYQTLEDGRRRSVGLWRSCWLLDRXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXGFQESRGTVKLQFDMMR
B. taurus 1 DVRDCEALGWGSEAAGFQESRGTVKLQFDMMR
H. sapiens 101 ACNLVATAALTAGQLTFLLGLVGLPLLSPDAPCWEEAMAAAFQLASFVLVIGLVTFYRIGPYTNLSWSCYLNIGACLLATLAAAMLIWNILHKREDCMAP
R. norvegicus 101 ACNLVATAALAVGQITFILGLTGLPLMSPESQCWEEAMAAAFQLASFVLVIGLVTFYRIGPYTNLSWSCYLNIGACLLATLAAAMLIWNILHRREDCMAP
M. musculus 101 ACNLVATAALVVGQITFILGLTGLPLMSPESQCWEEAMAAAFQLASFVLVIGLVTFYRIGPYTNLSWSCYLNIGACLLATLAVAMLIWNILHRREDCMAP
G. gallus 101 ACNLIATVALTAGQLIFVLGLVEIPIISQDTQWWEEAIAAVFQLASFVLVIGLVTFYRIGPYTNLSWSCYLNIGACLLATLAAAILIWNILHRREDCMAP
S. Scrofa 101 ACNLVATAALAAGQLTFVLGLTGLPLMSPDSQCWEEAMAAAFQLASFVLVIGLVTFYRIGPYTNLSWSCYLDIGACLLATLAAAMLIWNVLHRREDCMAP
B. taurus 35 ACNLVATAALAAGQLTFVLGLTGLPLLSPDAQCWEEAMAAAFQLASFVLVIGLVTFYRIGPYTSLSWSCYLNIGACLLATLAAAMLIWNVLHRREDCTAP
H. sapiens 201 RVIVISRSLTARFRRGLDNDYVESPC
R. norvegicus 201 RVIVISRSLTARFRRGLDNDYVESPC 88.9% identity
M. musculus 201 RVIVISRSLTARFRRGLDNDYVESPC 88.0% identity
G. gallus 201 RVIVISRTLTARFRRGLENDYVESPC 81.4% identity
S. Scrofa 201 RVIVISRSLAARFRRGLDXXXXXXXX
B. taurus 135 RVIVISRSLTARFRRGLDNDYVESPC
Fig. 3. Alignment of the amino acid sequences of mammalian claudin-like protein of 24 kDa (CLP24) orthologues. Alignment of the amino acid
sequences of human CLP24 with rat, mouse and chicken orthologues, together with partial amino acid sequences of porcine and bovine ortho-
logues. The human sequence is 89%, 87% and 81% identical to the rat, mouse and chicken sequences, respectively.
ske. muscle
2.4
1.35
Brain
colon
heart
PBL
thymus
spleen
kidney
liver
smallintes.
placenta
lung
kb
Fig. 4. Northern blot analysis of human claudin-like protein of 24 kDa
(CLP24). Human multiple tissue Northern blots (Clonetech) were
probed with a radiolabelled DNA fragment of CLP24. ske. muscle,
skeletal muscle; small intes., small intestine; PBL, peripheral blood
leukocytes.
Ó FEBS 2004 CLP24 – ahypoxicallyregulatedcelljunctionprotein (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2589
performed using a computer-generated cross-section (x–z
scan) through the celljunction (Fig. 5B). The merged
images of the x–z scans (Fig. 5B) show that the ZO-1
protein signal is located at the apical face of the MDCK
monolayer, as expected within polarized MDCK cells,
whilst the CLP24-EGFP signal is localized throughout the
intercellular junctions of the MDCK monolayer and shows
co-localization with the adherens junctionprotein b-catenin.
To further confirm this initial observation, co-localization
studies were performed using an anti-claudin 1 tight
junction-associated antibody. As observed with ZO-1,
claudin 1 was localized at the apical surface and did not
localize with EGFP-CLP24 (data not shown).
CLP24 mediates celljunction interactions
Overexpression of CLP24-EGFP in MDCK cells results in
the expression of CLP24 at cellular junctions; however,
MDCK cells expressing CLP24 display a different mor-
phology to the nontransfected cells (Fig. 5C). The expres-
sion of the CLP24-EGFP protein led to the disappearance
of the typical cobblestone structure that results from the
adhesion of confluent MDCK cells. In mixed cultures
containing both CLP24-EGFP expressing cells (detectable
by fluorescence microscopy) and nonexpressing cells, the
nontransfected cells organized themselves into cobblestone
structures, whereas the cells expressing the CLP24–EGFP
protein displayed a more fibroblastic morphology, charac-
teristic of a decrease in cellular adhesion.
Overexpression of CLP24 alters cellular permeability
Studies were performed to characterize the potential effect
of CLP24 on the paracellular barrier function. Paracellular
flux measurements were undertaken across a confluent
monolayer of cells expressing CLP24-EGFP, compared to
those obtained using control cell lines, and showed a
markedly higher paracellular flux of a 2 kDa FITC-dextran
tracer molecule than MDCK control cells (Fig. 6A). The
observed total permeability coefficient of MDCK/CLP24-
EGFP monolayers was threefold higher than those of
MDCK or MDCK/EGFP monolayers (Fig. 6B). This
demonstrates that the CLP24protein is able to modulate
junctional barrier function and shows both structural and
functional properties that are consistent with CLP24 being a
novel PMP22/EMP1/claudin family member.
Discussion
Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels out of pre-
existing capillaries, is fundamental to many physiological
and pathological processes, such as cancer, ischemic diseases
and chronic inflammation. Hypoxia is one of the physio-
logical signals that promote angiogenesis. During this
process, adherens junctions are involved in the control of
vascular permeability and in vascular remodeling [25–27].
Regulation of proteins involved in adherens junctions is
essential in the detachment of endothelial cells from the
vessel wall and invasion into the underlying tissues, which
are, in turn, essential for new vessel formation [3]. The
identification of CLP24 as a claudin-related protein, which
is ahypoxicallyregulated adherens junction component that
is able to influence vascular permeability, is an important
observation that documents routes through which adherens
junctions may be regulated during normal pathology and
disease.
A
CLP24-EGFP ZO-1
overlay
CLP24-EGFP
β
ββ
β-catenin
overlay
B
CLP24-EGFP
β
ββ
β-catenin
overlay
CLP24-EGFP ZO-1
overlay
C
Phase contrast CLP24-EGFP
Fig. 5. Localization of claudin-like protein of 24 kDa (CLP24).
MDCK cells were stably transfected with full-length CLP24 fused to
green fluorescent protein (EGFP). The transfected clones (CLP24-
EGFP in green), still mixed with nontransfected cells, were stained by
indirect immunofluorescence for either Zona Occluden-1 (ZO-1) or
b-catenin(bothinred).(A)CLP24–EGFPexpressionislocalizedat
intercellular borders, as observed for the ZO-1 and b-catenin junction
proteins. (B) Co-localization studies, using an x–z scan, demonstrate
that CLP24 is targeted to the intracellular junctions and co-localizes
with b-catenin (top), but not with ZO-1 (bottom). Bar: 10 lm.
(C) Morphological differences observed between co-cultures of
CLP24-EGFP, expressed and not expressed in MDCK cells. Expres-
sion of CLP24-EGFP results in an altered morphology compared to
the cells not expressing CLP24 and a loss of the cobblestone structure
that results from the formation of epithelial cell junctions.
2590 J. Kearsey et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
Bioinformatic characterization suggested that CLP24 is a
member of the PMP22/EMP1/claudin family, which are
tight junction associated proteins. However, recent studies
have shown that VAB-9, a PMP22/EMP1/claudin family
member from Caenorhabditis elegans (nematode), is invol-
ved in adherens junctions [21]. Therefore, co-localization
experiments were performed to more precisely assess the
location of CLP24 expression at the apical cell junction.
These studies showed that CLP24 co-localizes with adherens
junction protein b-catenin, but not with the ZO-1 tight
junction protein.
In agreement with the fact that endothelial cell interac-
tions have to be reorganized during vessel formation, over-
expression of CLP24 induced morphological changes in
MDCK cells that are characteristic of a decreased adhesion
between cells. A similar phenotype has also been observed
for the over-expression of Z0-1 adherens junction trunca-
tion mutants, which results in disruption of the cobblestone
structure to that of a fibroblastic morphology [28]. Func-
tional studies showed that CLP24 is able to influence
paracellular permeability, as observed for other PMP22/
EMP1/claudin members. Taken together, these results
indicate that CLP24 is involved in cell–cell interactions
through adherens, rather than tight, junctions.
The expression pattern of CLP24 is distinct from other
claudin family members, showing expression in lung, kidney
heart and placenta. It is noticeable that CLP24 is expressed
within the heart, which is unusual for the claudin family
members. This observation suggests that CLP24, like
PMP22/EMP1/claudin family members, has a tissue-speci-
fic distribution, which is linked to celljunction specificity
[23,29]. Both endothelial and epithelial cells possess tight
junction and adhesion structures to seal intercellular spaces.
Here we show, using RT-PCR, that CLP24 is expressed in
endothelial cells and in only a restricted population of
epithelial cell lines. These observations suggest that CLP24
has a specific barrier function within different cell types and
confirm the observations of others which show that complex
interplay between different claudin family members is
required to control paracellular permeability.
Work by Leach [26,30] has shown dynamic regulation of
both adherens and tight junction components during
angiogenesis. This, together with the observation that
claudin family members are deregulated during hypoxia
and cancer [31–35], suggests that CLP24 could be also
implicated in both normal and tumor angiogenesis.
Knockout experiments in mice show that loss of the
adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) or b-catenin results in
reduction of cell–cell adherens junctions adhesion [36] and
the b-catenin–APC complex has been shown to have a role
in the proliferation and migration of vascular endothelial
cells during neovascularization. As claudin family members
interact with b-catenin, it can be therefore envisioned that
CLP24 is involved in b-catenin signaling, and that
up-regulation of CLP24 upon hypoxia might participate
to the pro-antigenic deregulation of this cascade. Hypoxic
stimulation results in the induction of vascular endothelial
growth factor (VEGF) and endothelial hyperpermeability.
Both tight junction and adherens junction molecules have
been shown to influence paracellular permeability. Differ-
ential expression of claudin family members results in the
different permeability properties observed in different
epithelial and endothelial membranes [23], whilst loss of
b-catenin results in decreased cell–cell adhesion and
increased paracellular permeability [25]. The identification
of CLP24 as anovel adherens junction component that is
induced by hypoxia and is able to reduce adhesion, thereby
increasing intracellular permeability, provides additional
insight into the understanding of how hypoxic stimuli
induce morphological changes in endothelial cells required
for an angiogenic response. A valuable additional insight
into the functional role of CLP24, and a clearer under-
standing of its therapeutic potential, will be provided by
further characterization of CLP24 in pathologies including
cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders and tumori-
genesis.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the support of Prof. P. Corvol at the College de
France (INSERM) for his support with laser confocal microscopy.
References
1. Nagafuchi, A. (2001) Molecular architecture of adherens junc-
tions. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 13, 600–603.
100
200
0510
Time (hours
)
2.5 7.5
300
Fluorescence (A. U.)
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Permeability coeff. (cm/min)
*
CLP24-EGFP
EGFP
CLP24-EGFP
EGFP
A
B
Fig. 6. Stable expression of claudin-like
protein of 24 kDa (CLP24) in MDCK cells
increases the paracellular flux of 3 kDa FITC-
dextran. (A) The paracellular flux of 3 kDa
FITC-dextran, across a monolayer of MDCK
cells, was monitored over time. The results
show that over-expression of CLP24 results in
an increase in paracellular permeability com-
pared to controls (mean ± standard error of
three independent experiments). (B) Per-
meability coefficients were calculated from the
data in Fig. 6A and demonstrate a three-fold
increase in permeability in MDCK mono-
layers expressing CLP24 compared to controls.
Ó FEBS 2004 CLP24 – ahypoxicallyregulatedcelljunctionprotein (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) 2591
2. Gonzalez-Mariscal, L., Betanzos, A., Nava, P. & Jaramillo, B.E.
(2003) Tight junction proteins. Prog. Biophys. Mol Biol. 81, 1–44.
3. Dejana, E. (1996) Endothelial adherens junctions: implications in
the control of vascular permeability and angiogenesis. J. Clin.
Invest. 98, 1949–1953.
4. Park, J.H., Okayama, N., Gute, D., Krsmanovic, A., Battarbee,
H. & Alexander, J.S. (1999) Hypoxia/aglycemia increases endo-
thelial permeability: role of second messengers and cytoskeleton.
Am. J. Physiol. 277, C1066–C1074.
5. Zahraoui, A., Louvard, D. & Galli, T. (2000) Tight junction, a
platform for trafficking and signaling protein complexes. J. Cell
Biol. 151, F31–F36.
6. Notterpek, L., Roux, K.J., Amici, S.A., Yazdanpour, A., Rahner,
C. & Fletcher, B.S. (2001) Peripheral myelin protein 22 is a con-
stituent of intercellular junctions in epithelia. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci.
USA 98, 14404–14409.
7. Evans, W.H. & Martin, P.E. (2002) Gap junctions: structure and
function [Review]. Mol. Membr. Biol. 19, 121–136.
8. Schneider, C., King, R.M. & Philipson, L. (1988) Genes specifi-
cally expressed at growth arrest of mammalian cells. Cell 54, 787–
793.
9. Taylor,V.,Welcher,A.A.,Program,A.E.&Suter,U.(1995)
Epithelial membrane protein-1, peripheral myelin protein 22, and
lens membrane protein 20 define anovel gene family. J. Biol.
Chem. 270, 28824–28833.
10. Welcher, A.A., Suter, U., De Leon, M., Snipes, G.J. & Shooter,
E.M. (1991) A myelin protein is encoded by the homologue of
a growth arrest-specific gene. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 88,
7195–7199.
11. Brancolini, C., Edomi, P., Marzinotto, S. & Schneider, C. (2000)
Exposure at the cell surface is required for gas3/PMP22 to regulate
both cell death and cell spreading: implication for the Charcot-
Marie-Tooth type 1A and Dejerine-Sottas diseases. Mol. Biol.
Cell. 11, 2901–2914.
12. Skre, H. (1974) Genetic and clinical aspects of Charcot-Marie-
Tooth’s disease. Clin. Genet. 6, 98–118.
13. Simon,D.B.,Lu,Y.,Choate,K.A.,Velazquez,H.,Al-Sabban,E.,
Praga, M., Casari, G., Bettinelli, A., Colussi, G., Rodriguez-
Soriano,J.,McCredie,D.,Milford,D.,Sanjad,S.&Lifton,R.P.
(1999) Paracellin-1, a renal tight junctionprotein required for
paracellular Mg
2+
resorption. Science 285, 103–106.
14. Schweighoffer, F., Ait-Ikhlef, A., Resink, A.L., Brinkman, B.,
Melle-Milovanovic,D.,Laurent-Puig,P.,Kearsey,J.&Bracco,L.
(2000) Qualitative gene profiling: anovel tool in genomics and in
pharmacogenomics that deciphers messenger RNA isoforms
diversity. Pharmacogenomics 1, 187–197.
15. Sanchez-Cespedes, M., Cairns, P., Jen, J. & Sidransky, D. (1998)
Degenerate oligonucleotide-primed PCR (DOP-PCR): evaluation
of its reliability for screening of genetic alterations in neoplasia.
Biotechniques 25, 1036–1038.
16. Falquet, L., Pagni, M., Bucher, P., Hulo, N., Sigrist, C.J.,
Hofmann, K. & Bairoch, A. (2002) The PROSITE database, its
status in 2002, Nucleic Acids Res. 30, 235–238.
17. Krogh, A., Larsson, B., von Heijne, G. & Sonnhammer, E.L.
(2001) Predicting transmembraneprotein topology with a hidden
Markov model: application to complete genomes. J. Mol. Biol.
305, 567–580.
18. Pfaffl, M.W. (2001) A new mathematical model for relative
quantification in real-time RT-PCR. Nucleic Acids Res. 29, e45.
19.Lennon,P.F.,Taylor,C.T.,Stahl,G.L.&Colgan,S.P.(1998)
Neutrophil-derived 5¢-adenosine monophosphate promotes
endothelial barrier function via CD73-mediated conversion to
adenosine and endothelial A2B receptor activation. J. Exp. Med.
188, 1433–1443.
20. Yaffe, M.B., Leparc, G.G., Lai, J., Obata, T., Volinia, S. &
Cantley, L.C. (2001) A motif-based profile scanning approach for
genome-wide prediction of signaling pathways. Nat. Biotechnol.
19, 348–353.
21. Simske, J.S., Koppen, M., Sims, P., Hodgkin, J., Yonkof, A. &
Hardin, J. (2003) The celljunctionprotein, VAB-9, regulates
adhesion and epidermal morphology in C. elegans. Nat. Cell. Biol.
5, 619–625.
22. Louis,C.F.,Hur,K.C.,Galvan,A.C.,TenBroek,E.M.,Jarvis,
L.J., Eccleston, E.D. & Howard, J.B. (1989) Identification of an
18,000-dalton protein in mammalian lens fiber cell membranes.
J. Biol. Chem. 264, 19967–19973.
23. Heiskala, M., Peterson, P.A. & Yang, Y. (2001) The roles of
claudin superfamily proteins in paracellular transport. Traffic 2,
93–98.
24. Itoh, M., Furuse, M., Morita, K., Kubota, K., Saitou, M. &
Tsukita, S. (1999) Direct binding of three tight junction-associated
MAGUKs, ZO-1, ZO-2, and ZO-3, with the COOH termini of
claudins. J. Cell. Biol. 147, 1351–1363.
25. Cattelino, A., Liebner, S., Gallini, R., Zanetti, A., Balconi, G.,
Corsi,A.,Bianco,P.,Wolburg,H.,Moore,R.,Oreda,B.,Kemler,
R. & Dejana, E. (2003) The conditional inactivation of the beta-
catenin gene in endothelial cells causes a defective vascular pattern
and increased vascular fragility. J. Cell. Biol. 162, 1111–1122.
26. Leach, L., Lammiman, M.J., Babawale, M.O., Hobson, S.A.,
Bromilou, B., Lovat, S. & Simmonds, M.J. (2000) Molecular
organization of tight and adherens junctions in the human
placental vascular tree. Placenta 21, 547–557.
27. Sund, M., Ylonen, R., Tuomisto, A., Sormunen, R., Tahkola, J.,
Kvist, A.P., Kontusaari, S., Autio-Harmainen, H. & Pihlajaniemi,
T. (2001) Abnormal adherence junctions in the heart and reduced
angiogenesis in transgenic mice overexpressing mutant type XIII
collagen. EMBO J. 20, 5153–5164.
28. Ryeom, S.W., Paul, D. & Goodenough, D.A. (2000) Truncation
mutants of the tight junctionprotein ZO-1 disrupt corneal epi-
thelial cell morphology. Mol. Biol. Cell 11, 1687–1696.
29. Furuse, M., Sasaki, H. & Tsukita, S. (1999) Manner of interaction
of heterogeneous claudin species within and between tight junction
strands. J. Cell. Biol. 147, 891–903.
30. Leach, L., Babawale, M.O., Anderson, M. & Lammiman, M.
(2002) Vasculogenesis, angiogenesis and the molecular organisa-
tion of endothelial junctions in the early human placenta. J. Vasc.
Res. 39, 246–259.
31. Brown, R.C., Mark, K.S., Egleton, R.D., Huber, J.D., Burroughs,
A.R. & Davis, T.P. (2003) Protection against hypoxia-induced
increase in blood–brain barrier permeability: role of tight junction
proteins and NFkappaB. J. Cell Sci. 116, 693–700.
32. Mark, K.S. & Davis, T.P. (2002) Cerebral microvascular changes
in permeability and tight junctions induced by hypoxia-reoxy-
genation. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 282, H1485–H1494.
33. Witt,K.A.,Mark,K.S.,Hom,S.&Davis,T.P.(2003)Effectsof
hypoxia-reoxygenation on rat blood–brain barrier permeability
and tight junctional protein expression. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ.
Physiol. 285, H2820–H2831.
34. Kominsky, S.L., Argani, P., Korz, D., Evron, E., Raman, V.,
Garrett, E., Rein, A., Sauter, G., Kallioniemi, O.P. & Sukumar, S.
(2003) Loss of the tight junctionprotein claudin-7 correlates with
histological grade in both ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive
ductal carcinoma of the breast. Oncogene 22, 2021–2033.
35. Michl, P., Barth, C., Buchholz, M., Lerch, M.M., Rolke, M.,
Holzmann, K.H., Menke, A., Fensterer, H., Giehl, K., Lohr, M.,
Leder, G., Iwamura, T., Adler, G. & Gress, T.M. (2003) Claudin-4
expression decreases invasiveness and metastatic potential of
pancreatic cancer. Cancer Res. 63, 6265–6271.
36. Carothers, A.M., Melstrom, K.A. Jr, Mueller, J.D., Weyant, M.J.
& Bertagnolli, M.M. (2001) Progressive changes in adherens
junction structure during intestinal adenoma formation in Apc
mutant mice. J. Biol. Chem. 276, 39094–39102.
2592 J. Kearsey et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 271) Ó FEBS 2004
. * Agtcgcccttctcagcgttccatcgatgcacacctgctatcgtggaacag cctagaaaccaagggactccaccaccaagtcacttcccctgctcgtgcag aggcacgggatgagtctgggtgacctctgcgccatgcgtgcgagacacgt gtgcgtttactgttatgtcggtcatatgtctgtacgtgtcgtgggccaac ctcgttctgcctccagctttcctggttagcgcaacgcggctccacgacca cacgcacttcagggtggaagctggaagctgagacacaggttaggtggcgc gaggctgccctgcgctccgctttgctttgggattaatttattctgcatct gctgagaggggcaccccagccatatcttacactttggtaaagcagaaaac caggaaaattttcttaaaatatccacaatattccttgagtgagtcagaat ctatagccggttagtgatggtttcaggcagaatcgtgttcgtgtctgttt tgctcgattcctttcctaagtta aataaa tgcaagcctctgaacttctgt ctataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 1 51 101 151 201 251 301 351 401 451 501 551 601 1 651 11 701 28 751 45 801 61 851 78 901 95 951 111 1001 128 1051 145 1101 161 1151 178 1201 195 1251 211 1301 1351 1401 1451 1501 1551 1601 1651 1701 1751 1801 1851 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 10 700 27 750 44 800 60 850 77 900 94 950 110 1000 127 1050 144 1100 160 1150 177 1200 194 1250 210 1300 226 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1871 PMP22. of a 1.9kb transcript in lung, heart, kidney and placenta. aaaaaacaaccatttcctctctgctgagagccagggaaggcgagctctgc gcacacgggcgtccctgcagcagccactctgctttccaggaccggccaac tgccctggaggcatccacacaggggcccaggcagcacagaggagctgtga acccgctccacaccggccaccctgcccggagcctggcactcacagcaggc cggtgctaaggagtgtggcgcgggctcgactcccactgctgccggcctcc cgagtgactctgttttccactgctgcaggcgagaagaggcacgcgcggca caggccggcctccgcttcccgggaagacggcgcactcctggccctgggtt cttgctgctgcccaccctctgctccctgggatgggccccgaggcgagcag cttcagcacaggcctggccctgctccaggtgcaggaaggaggataaggcc gggccgagaggcggcacacctggaccatcccatgggcctccgcccgcgcc gccccgaggatgagtggtgatgtcctctagccacccctagcagcgtcggc tctccctggacgtgcggccgcggactgggacttggctttctccggataag cggcggcaccggcgtcagcgATGACCGTGCAGAGACTCGTGGCCGCGGCC MTVQRLV. T GCGCGCTTTCGCCGTGGGCTGGACAATGACTACGTGGAGTCACCATGCTG A R F R R G L D N D Y V E S P C * Agtcgcccttctcagcgttccatcgatgcacacctgctatcgtggaacag cctagaaaccaagggactccaccaccaagtcacttcccctgctcgtgcag aggcacgggatgagtctgggtgacctctgcgccatgcgtgcgagacacgt gtgcgtttactgttatgtcggtcatatgtctgtacgtgtcgtgggccaac ctcgttctgcctccagctttcctggttagcgcaacgcggctccacgacca cacgcacttcagggtggaagctggaagctgagacacaggttaggtggcgc gaggctgccctgcgctccgctttgctttgggattaatttattctgcatct gctgagaggggcaccccagccatatcttacactttggtaaagcagaaaac caggaaaattttcttaaaatatccacaatattccttgagtgagtcagaat ctatagccggttagtgatggtttcaggcagaatcgtgttcgtgtctgttt tgctcgattcctttcctaagtta aataaa tgcaagcctctgaacttctgt ctataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 1 51 101 151 201 251 301 351 401 451 501 551 601 1 651 11 701 28 751 45 801 61 851 78 901 95 951 111 1001 128 1051 145 1101 161 1151 178 1201 195 1251 211 1301 1351 1401 1451 1501 1551 1601 1651 1701 1751 1801 1851 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 10 700 27 750 44 800 60 850 77 900 94 950 110 1000 127 1050 144 1100 160 1150 177 1200 194 1250 210 1300 226 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1871 PMP22