Recent advances in claudin-targeting technology.

Most malignant tumors are derived from epithelium, and pathologic microorganisms often invade the body through the mucosal epithelium. Thus epithelial tissues are potent targets for drug delivery. The tight junction (TJ) is the intercellular seal in epithelial cell sheets. Claudins (CLs) are a family of tetratransmembrane proteins with a molecular mass of approximately 23 kDa. CLs are key structural and sealing components of TJs. CLs are often overexpressed in malignant tumors. CL-4 is highly expressed in the epithelial cells covering mucosal immune tissues. Therefore CLs may be potent targets for drug delivery, cancer therapy, and mucosal vaccination. Herein, we overview a series of our studies using the C-terminal fragment of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin to target and bind CLs; we also discuss the efficacy of CL-targeted drug delivery.