The peptide TFF2 (formerly 'spasmolytic polypeptide'), a member of the trefoil factor family (TFF) containing two TFF domains, is mainly expressed together with the mucin MUC6 in the gastric epithelium and duodenal Brunner's glands. Pathologically, TFF2 expression is observed ectopically during stone diseases, chronic inflammatory conditions and in several metaplastic and neoplastic epithelia; ...

BACKGROUND In normal gastric epithelium, MUC5AC is detected in superficial epithelium associated with Lewis type 1 antigens and MUC6 is detected in antral glands with Lewis type 2. Therefore, the stomach constitutes an excellent model to examine the role of glycosyltransferases in determining the specificity of apomucin glycosylation. AIMS To determine the molecular basis of this association ...

PURPOSE Mucins are members of the glycoprotein family expressed in benign and malignant epithelial cells. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationships between the expression of mucins in breast ductal carcinoma and clinicopathologic parameters. METHODS We constructed tumor microarrays based on 240 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma and 40 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) usi...

BACKGROUND The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is able to adhere to and to colonise the human gastric epithelium, yet the primary gene product responsible as a receptor for its adherence has not been identified. AIMS To investigate the expression of the gastric mucins MUC5AC and MUC6 in the gastric epithelium in relation to H pylori colonisation in order to examine their possible roles in the b...

BACKGROUND Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory bowel disease of unknown origin. It is characterised by chronic mucosal ulcerations which affect any part of the intestine but most commonly are found in the ileum and proximal colon. AIMS Studies were undertaken to provide information regarding cell specific expression of mucin genes in the ileum of patients with CD. PATIE...

Mucins exhibit a high degree of genetic polymorphism because of the presence of a variable number of tandem repeats. The aims of this work were to describe the MUC6 gene polymorphism in the Portuguese population and to evaluate whether MUC6 gene polymorphism was involved in individual susceptibility to gastric cancer development, as observed previously for the MUCJ gene. We found that the 10 al...

Mucins exhibit a high degree of genetic polymorphism because of the presence of a variable number of tandem repeats. The aims of this work were to describe the MUC6 gene polymorphism in the Portuguese population and to evaluate whether MUC6 gene polymorphism was involved in individual susceptibility to gastric cancer development, as observed previously for the MUC1 gene. We found that the 10 al...

AIM To study the protein expression patterns of MUC5AC and MUC6 in normal and diseased breast tissues and to compare their expression with that of a mucin (MUC1) normally expressed in mammary tissues. METHODS Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissue from 69 cases of invasive breast carcinoma and surrounding breast tissue was studied immunohistochemically with monoclonal antibodies against...