RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Human respiratory mucins
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 247
OP 256
DO 10.1183/09031936.93.05020247
VO 5
IS 2
A1 G Lamblin
A1 JP Aubert
A1 JM Perini
A1 A Klein
A1 N Porchet
A1 P Degand
A1 P Roussel
YR 1992
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/5/2/247.abstract
AB Human respiratory mucins are secreted by goblet cells and mucous glands of the respiratory mucosa. They consist of a broad family of complex glycoproteins with different peptides, or apomucins, corresponding to several genes located on at least three different chromosomes. Glycosylation, the major posttranslational phenomenon, is responsible for about 70-80% of the weight of mucins: it produces an extraordinary diversity of O-glycosidically linked carbohydrate chains which are expressed as several hundreds of different chains in the mucins of a single individual. The variety of mucin peptides and the diversity of carbohydrate chains probably allows many interactions, especially with microorganisms: this may be an essential factor in the defence of the underlying respiratory mucosa.