Tight junctions represent one mode of cell-to-cell adhesion in epithelial or endothelial cell sheets , forming continuous seals around cells and serving as a physical barrier to prevent solutes and water from passing freely through the paracellular space. These junctions are comprised of sets of continuous networking strands in the outwardly facing cytoplasmic leaflet , with complementary grooves in the inwardly facing extracytoplasmic leaflet. This gene encodes a component of tight junction strands , which is a member of the claudin family. The protein is an integral membrane protein and is one of the entry cofactors for hepatitis C virus. The gene methylation may be involved in esophageal tumorigenesis. This gene is adjacent to another family member CLDN9 on chromosome 16.[provided by RefSeq , Aug 2010] ,
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