Tight junction protein claudin-1 is downregulated by TGF-β1 via MEK signaling in benign prostatic epithelial cells.
Ke WangLaura E PascalFeng LiWei ChenRajiv DhirGoundappa K BalasubramaniDonald B DeFrancoNaoki YoshimuraDalin HeZhou WangPublished in: The Prostate (2020)
Our findings suggest that downregulation of claudin-1 by TGF-β1 acting through the noncanonical MEK-1/2/ERK-1/2 pathway triggers increased prostatic epithelial monolayer permeability in vitro. These findings also suggest that elevated TGF-β1 may contribute to claudin-1 downregulation and compromised epithelial barrier in clinical BPH specimens.