Biliary cystic tumors are rare hepatic neoplasms, and knowledge regarding the origin and pathology of these tumors remains vague. They should be analyzed in more detail. In our institution, 4 biliary cystic tumor surgeries were performed between December 1999 and March 2010. Pathological evaluation of resected specimens was performed to evaluate the characteristics of the intracystic epithelium...

Human mucin gene MUC5AC is clustered with MUC2, MUC5B and MUC6 on chromosome 11p15.5. We report here the full length cDNA sequence upstream of the repetitive region of human MUC5AC. We have also determined the sequence of its large central tandem repeat array. The 5'-region reveals high degree of sequence similarity with MUC2 and MUC5B and codes for 1336 amino acids organized into a signal pept...

Serum amyloid A (SAA) proteins are acute-phase proteins and are classified into multiple isoforms; however, the biological functions of each SAA isoform are not fully understood. In this study, to clarify the roles of SAA3 in the intestine, we characterized mRNA expression in mouse colonic epithelial CMT-93 cells treated with rotavirus, Toxoplasma, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, a...

The structures of purified soluble porcine gastric (Muc5ac) and duodenal (Muc2) mucin solutions at neutral and acidic pH were examined using small-angle X-ray scattering and small-angle neutron scattering experiments. We provide evidence for the morphology of the network above the semidilute overlap concentration and above the entanglement concentration. Furthermore, we investigated the gelatio...

Biosynthetic studies on the human MUC5AC mucin were performed by immunoprecipitations with antisera recognizing only the non-O-glycosylated apomucin in the colon adenocarcinoma cell line LS 174T. Pulse-chase studies and subcellular fractionations showed that MUC5AC formed dimers in the rough endoplasmic reticulum within 15 min of the initiation of biosynthesis. No non-O-glycosylated species lar...

Mucus of cystic fibrosis patients exhibits altered biochemical composition and biophysical behavior, but the causal relationships between altered cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) function and the abnormal mucus seen in various organ systems remain unclear. We used cultured gallbladder epithelial cells (GBEC) from wild-type and Cftr((-/-)) mice to investigate mucin gene...

The role of Achaete scute-like 2 (Ascl2) in colorectal cancer (CRC) cell differentiation is unknown. LS174T, HT-29 and Caco-2 cells have high Ascl2 expression, while Lovo and SW480 cells have low Ascl2 expression. LS174T and HT-29 cells with Ascl2 knockdown were transfected with caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) promoter constructs and used for luciferase assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation (C...

Data from animal models and human inflammatory bowel diseases have implicated the ER (endoplasmic reticulum) stress pathway in intestinal inflammation. We have characterized the development of inflammation in Winnie mice in which ER stress arises due to a single missense mutation in the MUC2 mucin produced by intestinal goblet cells. This model has allowed us to explore the genesis of inflammat...

Colonic mucosal protection is provided by the mucus gel, mainly composed of mucins. Several factors can modulate the formation and the secretion of mucins, and among them butyrate, an end-product of carbohydrate fermentation. However, the specific effect of butyrate on the various colonic mucins, and the consequences in terms of the mucus layer thickness are not known. Our aim was to determine ...