SUUONTELON MUSIINIT

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4689954/

J Oral Microbiol. 2015; 7: 10.3402/jom.v7.29759.

Published online 2015 Dec 22. doi:  [10.3402/jom.v7.29759]

PMCID: PMC4689954

PMID: 26701274

Salivary mucins in host defense and disease prevention

Erica Shapiro Frenkel^1,2 and Katharina Ribbeck^2,*

Introduction to salivary mucins

There are at least 20 identified mucins throughout the human body that cover wet epithelial surfaces such as the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, and eyes. A summary of areas where mucins can be found in the body is given in Fig. 1a. Each of these mucins has a unique structure that can influence its localization and function. This section will address structural aspects of the mucins found in the oral cavity, MUC5B, MUC7, MUC19, MUC1, and MUC4 (7).

Fig. 1

Introduction to mucins. (a) Epithelial surfaces where mucins can be found in the body. (b) Predicted domain structures of the salivary mucins MUC5B (20, 21), MUC7 (21, 22), MUC19 (12), MUC1 (21, 23, 24), and MUC4 (25). Note that predicted domain sequences can vary based on detection method.