Tight junctions, regulated by a molecule called zonulin, as well as by conformational changes in the proteins occludin and claudin, are dynamic intercellular structures that modulate the trafficking or passage of macromolecules from the
intestinal lumen to the
submucosa and into systemic circulation (Fasano, 2012).
The one cell thick lining of the gastrointestinal tract is normally tightly regulated by conformational changes in tight junctions, which supervise the paracellular trafficking of molecules from the
intestinal lumen to the
submucosa and into systemic circulation (2).