= Occludin
<Occludin> is an integral <membrane protein> concentrated at <tight junctions>, where neighbouring epithelial or endothelial <cells> regulate passage between them. It has four membrane-spanning segments and a long cytoplasmic tail. <Occludin> is a junction component rather than a synonym for the entire sealing structure.
In 1993, <Mikio Furuse> and colleagues raised <monoclonal antibodies> against a junction-enriched fraction from chick liver. <Immunoelectron microscopy> placed the recognized <protein> directly at membrane-contact points of <tight junctions>; sequence analysis suggested four membrane crossings. These combined biochemical and spatial observations identified <occludin>.<Occludin: a novel integral membrane protein localizing at tight junctions by Mikio Furuse and others>[Abstract, pp. 1777–1788: fractionation, antibody localization and cDNA sequence]{ref}
Later, expression of <claudin>-1 or <claudin>-2 in <fibroblasts> reconstituted extensive junction strands and recruited <occludin>. This separates the capacity to build a strand from the presence of one particular strand-associated <protein>.<A single gene product, claudin-1 or -2, reconstitutes tight junction strands and recruits occludin in fibroblasts by Mikio Furuse and others>[1998, abstract: claudin reconstitution and occludin recruitment]{ref}
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