Cingulin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CGN gene. Cingulin is specifically localized at tight junctions in epithelial cells, unlike ZO-1, which is also detected at adherens-type junctions in non-epithelial cells. During early Xenopus embryo development, cingulin is detected at a cortical localization, and then accumulates at apical junctions, unlike ZO-1 and other junctional proteins, that are targeted to the new regions of cell-cell contact via the lateral domain.