High-Resolution Analysis of Barrier Function

High-resolution analysis of epithelial barrier function adds substantial information to that provided by conventional transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) measurements. This chapter describes three high-resolution techniques. First, two variants of impedance spectroscopy are delineated. One-path impedance spectroscopy discriminates vertically between serial pathways, namely resistances of the epithelial cell layer and of subepithelial tissues. As a typical application, measurements on human sigmoid colon biopsies from patients suffering from Crohn's disease are reported. Two-path impedance spectroscopy allows to discriminate between trans- and paracellular resistance, and the general principle of this technique is outlined. Second, the conductance scanning technique is presented, which discriminates horizontally between optically distinct parallel pathways over a wide range of spatial resolutions. Using this technique, it was shown that occludin - in contrast to the then prevailing opinion - is not irreplaceable to barrier function. Third, three-dimensional confocal fluorescence imaging for depicting transepithelial transport processes is introduced. Using this method the transepithelial translocation of bacteria which generate focal leaks was discovered.