The sialosyl-Tn (Sin) antigen is a mucin-associated carbohydrate antigen expressed by a variety of adenocarcinomas. In the colon, ex pression of this antigen has been associated with a poor prognosis, independent of tumor stage or histology. The present study was per formed to determine whether this adverse clinical outcome might be due to an interaction between STn-positive murili and natural ...

In the present study, we investigated whether polycationic peptides affect mucin release from cultured airway goblet cells. Confluent primary hamster tracheal surface epithelial cells were metabolically radiolabeled with [3H]glucosamine for 24 h and chased for 30 min in the presence of varying concentrations of either poly-l-arginine (PLA) or poly-l-lysine (PLL) to assess the effects on [3H]muc...

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Ebola virus (EBOV) glycoprotein (GP), responsible for mediating host-cell attachment and membrane fusion, contains a heavily glycosylated mucin-like domain hypothesized to shield GP from neutralizing antibodies. To test whether the mucin-like domain inhibits the production and function of anti-GP antibodies, we vaccinated mice with Ebola virus-like particles (VLPs) that express vesicular stomat...

Treatments of bacterial infections have become a difficult task in the medical practice due to high level of resistance to the existing marketed antibiotics. This problem evoked us to search for new antimicrobial agent for better management of bacterial infections. The present study was carried out to evaluate antimicrobial properties of epidermal mucus (soluble mucin or s-mucin). s-mucin was e...

Gastrointestinal mucins produced by goblet cells comprise the main structural components of the mucus layer. Mucins play a critical role in the maintenance of mucosal homeostasis and are responsible for the differential effector and regulatory responses against a plethora of microorganisms, including commensals and pathogens. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview on mucin biology,...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Mucin function is associated with both peptide core and glycosylation characteristics. The authors assessed whether structural alterations occurring during mucin residence in the tear film reflect changes in ocular surface physiology. METHODS Ocular surface mucus was collected from normal volunteers as N-acetyl cysteine (NAcCys) washes or directly from the speculum after catar...

We examined the effects of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), including the possible participation of nitric oxide (NO), on mucin biosynthesis in the surface epithelium and remaining deep mucosa as well as the entire mucosa and compared the distribution of CGRP and NO synthase (NOS) using a combination of double immunofluorescence labeling and multiple dye filter. Pieces of tissue obta...

Interactions between Yersinia enterocolitica and purified intestinal mucins from rabbit and humans were investigated. Plasmid-bearing virulent organisms (but not plasmid-free nonvirulent bacteria) bound well to both mucins, suggesting that adherence was controlled by the virulence plasmid. Examination of binding to 14 different preparations of purified human intestinal mucin (8 preparations obt...

Intact oligomeric gastric mucins were isolated from the fundic part of rat and human stomach. Physicochemical properties of the oligomeric mucins from both species, such as buoyant density, molecular mass, proteinase-resistance, amino acid composition and monosaccharide composition were similar. Biochemical analysis showed that the oligomeric mucins from both species consist of disulphide-linke...