Effects of Proinflammatory Cytokines on the Claudin-19 Rich Tight Junctions of Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Purpose. Chronic, subclinical inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of several ocular diseases, including age-related macular degeneration. Proinflammatory cytokines affect tight junctions in epithelia that lack claudin-19, but in the retinal pigment epithelium claudin-19 predominates. We examined the effects of cytokines on the tight junctions of human fetal RPE (hfRPE).