[Mucin gene--regulation of the expression of MUC2 and MUC3 mucin gene in the airway].
Mucus hypersecretion is a characteristic feature of several human airway diseases, including chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis and asthma. Analysis of rat disease models has suggested that mucin synthesis is up-regulated as part of the disease process. To understand the primary structure of secretory mucins, several cDNAs encoding airway mucin have been isolated. In most cases, full-length sequences have not been obtained. In this review, we focused on the MUC2 and MUC3 mucin gene. MUC2 mucin has been reported to be expressed in the human lung with airway disease and in the rat lung with infection and exposure to irritant such as SO2. MUC3 is also expressed in the bronchus. Less is known about the structure and the expression pattern of the MUC3 mucin gene. Recent findings show that the expression pattern of the MUC2 and MUC3 mucin genes differ strikingly, suggesting that they play distinct functional roles in the airway and intestine. Functional analysis of mucin gene promoter will provide better understanding of the regulation of its expression in the airway under both normal and pathological conditions.
Ohmori
H
H
Division of Respiratory Disease, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.
Tsuda
T
T
Nogami
H
H
Kido
M
M
Basbaum
C
C
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009077:Mucins / Q000235:genetics*; D051381:Rats; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000378:metabolism*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*
D009077:Mucins