zona occludens proteins

zona occludens proteins

A family of scaffolding proteins which provide the structural basis for assembling multiprotein complexes at the cytoplasmic surface of intercellular junctions, and provide a link between the integral membrane proteins and the filamentous cytoskeleton. ZO proteins belong to the family of membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK)-like proteins, which are grouped into subfamilies based on domain content and sequence similarity. In addition to their structural function at cell–cell contacts, ZO proteins regulate cell growth and proliferation, and have conserved functional nuclear localisation and nuclear export motifs within their amino acid sequence.