Fatemeh Khalili-Araghi
University of Illinois Chicago, IL·Biophysics·Early-career
In any multicellular animal, the sheets of cells lining the gut, kidney and other organs have to act as barriers, deciding what can slip through the narrow gaps between neighboring cells. That gatekeeping is done by tight junctions, belt-like clusters of proteins that seal cells to one another.
- Fields
Biophysics
Physiology
Physics
- Topics
tight junctions
claudins
paracellular transport
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Determine the molecular basis of gating and ion selectivity in claudin pores, the channels between adjacent cells, using atomic-resolution molecular dynamics simulations.
- Model how individual claudin proteins assemble into the strands and larger architecture of the tight junction that encircles a cell.
- Build a global model of paracellular transport, the movement of ions and small molecules between cells, by combining atomistic simulations with Brownian dynamics calculations of ion diffusion.
- Validate and refine the computational model of tight junction structure against in vitro measurements of claudin permeability and experiments on mutated claudins.
More about the research
Despite the name, tight junctions are not always tight: certain ions and small molecules do cross between cells, and in some tissues this leakage is essential. How that selective loosening is achieved at the level of protein structure is poorly understood. This project combines computer simulation with laboratory measurements to connect tight junction architecture to its function.
Why it matters
Tight junctions control the movement of salts and small molecules across the linings of the gut, kidney and other organs, so their behavior underlies normal fluid and ion balance. A structural picture of how claudin proteins assemble and select which ions pass would explain a basic property of all multicellular tissue barriers and could eventually inform understanding of conditions in which these barriers leak or fail.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Christopher Weber
University of Chicago, IL·Physiology
Determine which molecular and structural features of claudin-2 and claudin-15 dictate the size and charge selectivity of their pores, using all-atom computer models of the proteins together with first-in-class channel blockers.
Maribel Vazquez
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Biomedical Engineering
Examine how combined endothelial cell and Müller glia responses change cell growth, shape, tight junction protein expression, and barrier resistance and permeability in co-cultures that mimic the inner blood-retinal barrier.
Erdal Ozkan
Colorado School of Mines, CO·Engineering
Test whether CO2 at oil-wall interfaces and its gradient along pore walls control oil-CO2 transport in nanopores, using membrane and real rock core experiments with molecular and continuum simulations.
The school
University of Illinois Chicago: 42 labs on PI Pages, $532M a year on research, 359 research doctorates a year.
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