Response of epithelial (Madin-Darby canine kidney) cell junctions to calcium removal and osmotic stress is influenced by temperature.

Hypertonic stress caused a reduction in transepithelial electrical resistance both at 22 and 0 deg C, which, unlike the reduction caused by calcium removal at 22 deg C, was reversed relatively rapidly on return to isotonic conditions. Hypotonic stress increased transepithelial electrical resistance at 0 deg C, but had no effect at 22 deg C. The technique described here provides a straightforward method for investigating the effects of some of the stresses encountered during hypothermic storage and cryopreservation on intercellular junctions.