Submitted on January 9, 2008
Accepted on February 26, 2008
Role of TNF-
in ileum tight junction alteration in mouse model of restraint stress
Emanuela Mazzon1 and Salvatore Cuzzocrea1*
1 university of messina, messina, Italy
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: salvator{at}unime.it.
Restraint stress induces permeability changes in the small intestine but little is known on the role of TNF-
in the defects of the TJ function. In the present study, we used tumor necrosis factor-R1 knock out mice (TNF-R1KO) to understand the roles of TNF- on ileum altered permeability function in models of immobilisation stress. The genetic TNF- inhibition significantly reduced the degree of (1) TNF- production in ileum tissues, (2) the alteration of ZO-1, Claudin-2, Claudin-4, Claudin-5 and 
-catenin (immunohistochemistry) and (3) apoptosis (TUNEL staining, Bax, Bcl-2 expression). Taken together, our results demonstrate that inhibition of TNF- reduces the tight junction permeability in the ileum tissues associated with immobilisation stress, suggesting a possible role of TNF- on ileum barrier dysfunction.
