This gene encodes a member of the claudin family. Claudins are integral membrane proteins and components of tight junction strands. Tight junction strands serve as a physical barrier to prevent solutes and water from passing freely through the paracellular space between epithelial or endothelial cell sheets, and also play critical roles in maintaining cell polarity and signal transductions. This protein plays important roles in the paracellular cation barrier of the distal renal tubule, and in the paracellular barrier to prevent sodium back-leakage in distal colon. Differential expression of this gene has been observed in colorectal carcinoma and renal cell tumors, and along with claudin-7, is an immunohistochemical marker for the differential diagnosis of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma and renal oncocytoma.[provided by RefSeq, May 2010],function:Plays a major role in tight junction-specific obliteration of the intercellular space.,similarity:Belongs to the claudin family.,subcellular location:Localizes to tight junctions in all 3 segments of the epididymis, in the caput found in the lateral margins of principal cells, and in the corpus at the interface between basal and principal cells.,subunit:Directly interacts with TJP1/ZO-1, TJP2/ZO-2 and TJP3/ZO-3.,tissue specificity:Expressed in the epididymis, mainly in the caput segment.,
