The cause of the mucus clearance problems associated with cystic fibrosis remains poorly understood though it has been suggested that mucin hypersecretion, dehydration of mucins, and biochemical abnormalities in the glycosylation of mucins may be responsible. Since the biochemical and biophysical properties of a mucin are dependent on O-glycosylation, our aim was to evaluate the O-glycosylation...

Dietary protein might modulate mucin flow and intestinal mucin gene expression. Since unheated phaseolin from Phaseolus vulgaris bean is resistant to digestion and increases gut endogenous protein losses, we hypothesised that unheated phaseolin influences mucin flow and gene expression, and that phaseolin heat treatment reverses these effects. The hypothesis was tested using a control diet cont...

Mucins locate to the apical surfaces of all wet-surfaced epithelia including ocular surface. The functions of the mucins include anti-adhesive, lubrication, water retention, allergens and pathogen barrier function. Ocular surface pathologies, i.e. dry eye syndrome or allergic conjunctivitis, are reportedly associated with alteration of expression pattern of mucin components. Recent investigatio...

OBJECTIVES To review the importance of mucin on a molecular level in the understanding of the pathophysiology of otitis media and to present new data demonstrating differential up-regulation of specific mucin genes during inflammation of middle ear epithelium. DESIGN Primary chinchilla middle ear epithelial cultures (CMEECs) were established and exposed to tumor necrosis factor alpha and inte...

Abstract Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) refers to a growth disorder characterized by glycoprotein neoplasm in the peritoneum, where mucin oversecretion occurs. The tumors of appendix region are well associated with PMP; however, ovarian, colon, stomach, pancreas, and urachus have also been linked PMP. Other mucinous pelvis, paracolic gutters, greater omentum, retrohepatic space, Treitz ligament c...

Intestinal metaplasia is a well-established premalignant condition of the stomach that is characterized by mucin carbohydrate modifications defined by histochemical methods. The purpose of the present study was to see whether the expression of mucin core proteins was modified in the different types of intestinal metaplasia and to evaluate the putative usefulness of mucins as "molecular markers"...

We have achieved stable high-level expression of a human tumor antigen, epithelial cell mucin (MUC-1), on human dendritic cells (DCs) by retroviral transduction of CD34+ progenitor cells and their subsequent cytokine-induced differentiation into DCs. The process of retroviral transduction did not alter the growth or differentiation of DCs from CD34+ progenitor cells. Immunofluorescence and elec...

We have achieved stable high-level expression of a human tumor antigen, epithelial cell mucin (MUC-1), on human dendritic cells (DCs) by retroviral transduction of ( '1)34 ' progenitor cells and their subsequent cytokine-induced differentiation into DCs. The process of retroviral trans duction did not alter the growth or differentiation of DCs from (.'1)34 * progenitor cells. Immunofluorescence...

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 ...