The role of tight junction permeability in the pathogenesis of human disease is important and is one of the experimental focuses of the laboratory of Jianghui Hou, PhD. He has recently identified a mechanism in the mammalian kidney that utilizes the Kelch-like protein 3 (KLHL3)-dependent ubiiquitination pathway to regulate claudin-8 and the paracellular pathway for chloride permeability.
This observation gives further insights in the cellular mechanisms underlying the hypertension associated with Gordon’s syndrome, and provites a potential target for pharmacological manipulation.
Hou’s work can be accessed here in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.