{"doi":"10.1101/2021.06.11.448147","title":"Cell-matrix adhesion contributes to permeability control in human colon organoids","abstract":"ABSTRACT Background and aims Cell-cell adhesion structures (desmosomes and, especially, tight junctions) are known to play important roles in control of transepithelial permeability in the colon. The involvement of cell-matrix interactions in permeability control is less clear. The goals of the present study were to: i) determine if disruption of colon epithelial cell interactions with the extracellular matrix alters permeability control and ii) determine if increasing the elaboration of protein components of cell-matrix adhesion complexes improves permeability control and mitigates the effects of cell-matrix disruption. Methods Human colon organoids were interrogated for transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) under control conditions (0.25 mM calcium) and in the presence of Aquamin ® , a multi-mineral product, at a level providing 1.5 mM calcium. The effects of Aquamin ® on cell-matrix adhesion protein expression were determined in a proteomic screen and by Western blotting. In parallel, TEER was assessed in the presence of a function-blocking antibody directed at an epitope in the C-terminal region of laminin α3 chain. Results Treatment of colon organoids with Aquamin ® increased the expression of multiple basement membrane and hemidesmosomal proteins as well as keratin 8 and 18. TEER values were higher in the presence of Aquamin ® than they were under control conditions. Anti-laminin antibody reduced TEER values under all conditions but was most effective in the absence of Aquamin ® , where laminin expression was low and TEER values were lower to begin with. Conclusions These findings provide evidence that cell-matrix interactions contribute to permeability control in the colon. They suggest that the elaboration of proteins important to cell-matrix interactions can be increased in human colon organoids by exposure to a multi-mineral natural product. Increasing the elaboration of such proteins may help to mitigate the consequences of disrupting cell-matrix interactions on permeability control.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2021,"id":224765,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9528,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":474221,"name":"Shannon D. McClintock","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":473271,"name":"Muhammad N. Aslam","orcid":"0000-0003-1361-5357","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":474223,"name":"James Varani","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":56,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:54:22.889584Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}