Keratinocyte junctions and the epidermal barrier : how to make a skin-tight dress

Although intercellular junctions are known to be the major regulators of permeability of simple epithelia, they had not been thought to be important in regulating the permeability of stratified mammalian epithelia. Furuse et al. (2002)(this issue) demonstrate that functional tight junctions may indeed be a necessary part of the permeability barrier of the skin.