 Mikio Furuse

Mikio Furuse investigated the molecular construction of tight junctions. In a 1998 study, introducing claudin-1 or claudin-2 into fibroblasts that normally lack tight junctions produced networks of junction-like strands at contacts between cells. Immunofluorescence located the introduced proteins, while freeze-fracture imaging revealed the strand architecture.^[ref]

The experiment demonstrated that either claudin could build a key structural feature in a simplified cellular setting. Recruitment of occludin further distinguished a strand-forming component from another associated junctional protein.