Patent ID: 8563515

Claim:
A method for modulating apoptosis of epithelial cells of a subject comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of a tight junction protein modulator of the formula: wherein each of X 1 and X 4 is independently cysteine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, lysine, or ornithine; each of L 1 and L 4 is independently the corresponding functional group of the amino acid side chain of X 1 and X 4 , respectively, or —(CH 2 ) m —; each of X 2 and X 3 is glycine; m is an integer from 1 to 4; each n is independently 0, 1 or 2; Z 1 is aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, or glutamine; Z 2 is phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, or leucine; Z 3 is tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, or leucine; Z 4 is asparagine or glutamine; and Z 5 is proline.