The expression profile of Claudin family members in the developing mouse lung and expression alterations resulting from exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS).

Claudins are tight junctional proteins implicated in cell polarity and epithelial barrier maintenance. Claudin misregulation adversely impacts developmental aspects of cell differentiation and proliferation. The current research evaluated transcriptional expression for Claudins 1-11 and 18 in the developing murine lung at embryonic days (E) 14.