Intestinal Goblet Cells and Mucins in Health and Disease: Recent Insights and Progress

The mucus layer coating the gastrointestinal tract is the front line of innate host defense, largely because of the secretory products of intestinal goblet cells. Goblet cells synthesize secretory mucin glycoproteins (MUC2) and bioactive molecules such as epithelial membrane-bound mucins (MUC1, MUC3, MUC17), trefoil factor peptides (TFF), resistin-like molecule beta (RELMbeta), and Fc-gamma binding protein (Fcgbp). The MUC2 mucin protein forms trimers by disulfide bonding in cysteine-rich amino terminal von Willebrand factor (vWF) domains, coupled with crosslinking provided by TFF and Fcgbp proteins with MUC2 vWF domains, resulting in a highly viscous extracellular layer. Colonization by commensal intestinal…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: DK080506