Figure 6. Immunofluorescence detection of occludin and JAM-A in Caco-2 cells.

Cell monolayers were exposed for 8 h to ethanol vehicle (Control), EB (10 nm), DPN (100 nm), or PPT (100 nm), in the presence or absence of ER antagonist ICI 182,780 (ICI, 10 μm). A, occludin: note that DPN like EB, but not PPT, increases occludin staining at the level of epithelial cell membranes, and ICI added 1 h before EB or DPN treatment blocked this effect. In confocal images in the x–z plane, note that DPN enhances occludin immunostaining at the apical cell-to-cell contact of epithelial cells compared to control cells, and this effect was abrogated in the presence of ICI 182,780. B, JAM-A, representative images of immunostaining with or without DPN treatment and ICI 182,780, and x–z plane confocal images showing modulation of epithelial JAM-A staining at apical sites. Scale bars = 25 μm.