This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on growth, survival rate, digestive enzyms activity, and expression intestinal barrier function genes in tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) larvae. A total 960 larvae (0.030 ± 0.006 g) were fed three diets supplemented with increasing FOS concentrations (2.5, 5, 7.5 g kg?1) a control diet for 15 days. ...

BACKGROUND Mucins are large, hydrophilic glycoproteins that protect wet-surfaced epithelia from pathogen invasion as well as provide lubrication. At least 17 mucin genes have been cloned to date. This study sought to determine the mucin gene expression profile of the human male urogenital tract epithelia, to determine if mucins are present in seminal fluid and to assess the effect of androgens ...

Mucins are among the best described human tumor-associated antigens. At least 73 tumor-reactive anti-mucin antibodies have been described; in addition, we have previously demonstrated the existence of tumor-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes on the mucin produced by breast and pancreatic tumors. To determine whether the appearance of tumor-associated mucin epitopes can be explained by alt...

BACKGROUND We investigated whether chrysin affected MUC5AC mucin production and gene expression induced by phorbol ester (phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, PMA) or epidermal growth factor (EGF) from human airway epithelial cells. METHODS Confluent NCI-H292 cells were pretreated with varying concentrations of chrysin for 30 minutes, and were then stimulated with PMA and EGF for 24 hours, respec...

Mucins synthesized by malignant cells may contribute (via decreased cellular adhesion and immune recognition) to cancer invasion and métas tases. Human mucins are derived from a heterogeneous family of genes, labeled MUCI-6. Our aim was to determine the pattern of mucin gene expression in normal, preneoplastic (intestinal metaplasia), and malignant gastric specimens. Probes and antibodies for ...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of death due to a viral etiology in infants. RSV disease is characterized by epithelial desquamation, neutrophilic bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and obstructive pulmonary mucus. It has been shown that infection of BALB/cJ mice with RSV clinical isolate A2001/2-20 (2-20) results in a higher early viral load, greater airway necrosis, and highe...

The expression of mucins is important for tumor invasiveness and metastasis. In our previous report (Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 1997; 155:1419-1427), non-small cell lung cancers bearing sialomucin expression tended to relapse earlier than those without sialomucin. However, it remained unclear whether the expression of sialomucin in lung cancer is caused by an abnormal glycosylation process ...

Mucin production and secretion by specialized epithelial cells is a common mechanism used by mammals to protect the underlying mucosae against various injuries (pollutants, pathogens, pH). The expression of mucin genes is cell- and tissue-specific but is submitted to variations during cell differentiation, inflammatory process, and is altered during carcinogenesis. The molecular mechanisms resp...

Complementary DNA clones encoding four different mucin core peptides have been isolated. However, the expression of these mucin genes in the colon has not been systematically studied. The present investigation used Northern blot analysis to study the expression of MUC1, MUC2, MUC3, and MUC4 mRNA in paired normal and cancerous colonic tissues, and nine colon cancer cell lines. Results were corre...