BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE Trichomonas vaginalis, the causal agent of trichomonosis, is a flagellated parasitic protozoan that colonises the epithelial cells of the human urogenital tract. The ability of T vaginalis to colonise this site is in part a function of its ability to circumvent a series of non-specific host defences including the mucous layer covering epithelial cells at the site of infecti...

Background: Mucins are large complex glycoproteins that protect intestinal mucosal surfaces by limiting access of environmental matter to their epithelial cells. Several mucin genes have been described, including MUC3 that is a membrane associated mucin of the small intestine. Increased MUC3 mRNA transcription is induced by incubation of intestinal epithelial cells with a Lactobacillus strain k...

Antibodies against MUC2, MUC3, and MUC5AC peptide epitopes stained the secretory contents of all goblet cells in the human colon-derived HT29-18N2 cell line. In contrast, four carbohydrate-specific monoclonal antibodies stained mucin glycoforms in consistent subsets of goblet cells. Cholinergic agonist-evoked decreases in total mucin stores were not always mirrored by proportional changes in mu...

The lubrication effect of three long-chain polymers - mucin, methylcellulose and Ficoll - on ciliary propulsion in tubes is measured by plotting the relative velocities of swimming cilitates as a function of the tube bore diameter. Mucin shows the most unequivocal lubrication, which is found at concentrations between 0% and 9.1% (w/v). This observation, coupled with viscometric measurements whi...

1. Hypersecretion of gallbladder mucin has been proposed to be a pathogenic factor in cholesterol gallstone formation. Using cultured gallbladder epithelial cells, we demonstrated that bile salts regulate mucin secretion by the gallbladder epithelium. In the present study we have investigated whether established second messenger pathways are involved in bile salt-induced mucin secretion. 2. The...

Intestinal trefoil factor (ITF or TFF3), NO and epithelium-associated mucin have important roles in sustaining mucosal integrity in the gastrointestinal tract. In the present study we examined ITF-binding molecules on IEC-18 cells (an intestinal epithelial cell line) with the use of flow cytometry and localized these molecules on the cell surface by confocal microscopy. Furthermore, we studied ...

Interfacial properties of two brush-with-anchor mucins, C-P55 and C-PSLex, have been investigated at the aqueous solution/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) interface. Both are recombinant mucin-type fusion proteins, produced by fusing the glycosylated mucin part of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSLG-1) to the Fc part of a mouse immunoglobulin in two different cells. They are mainly expressed...

The use of snail mucin motifs as rectal absorption enhancer for insulin has been evaluated. The mucin motifs were extracted from the giant African snail Archachatina marginata by differential precipitation with acetone. The mucin motifs were found to have a molecular weight of 5780 Da and an isoelectric point of 3.4. At the concentrations evaluated, the mucin exhibited rectal absorption enhanci...

We have studied the biosynthesis of mucin glycoproteins recognized by monoclonal antibody W1 in MCF7 cells. Proteins of Mr 170,000, 185,000, 260,000, and 275,000 were immunoprecipitated from cells pulse-labeled with [3H]threonine and [3H]proline. Evidence suggesting that these proteins were precursors of high molecular weight mucin(s) included: 1) their kinetics of disappearance corresponded wi...

The effects of mucin on cholera toxin induced intestinal secretion was studied in the rat small intestine. Gastric mucin inhibited secretion when premixed with cholera toxin on an equal dry-weight basis. Neither salivary nor intestinal mucin inhibited the toxin's action in the intestine. Inhibition by gastric mucin was not reversed by a mucolytic agent or by hexoses or agents that bind hexoses....