title: Composition and functional role of the mucus layers in the intestine.
abstract: In discussions on intestinal protection, the protective capacity of mucus has not been very much considered. The progress in the last years in understanding the molecular nature of mucins, the main building blocks of mucus, has, however, changed this. The intestinal enterocytes have their apical surfaces covered by transmembrane mucins and the whole intestinal surface is further covered by mucus, built around the gel-forming mucin MUC2. The mucus of the small intestine has only one layer, whereas the large intestine has a two-layered mucus where the inner, attached layer has a protective function for the intestine, as it is impermeable to the luminal bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department Medical Biochemistry, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Malin E V
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ambort
authors.forename: Thaher
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pelaseyed
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schütte
authors.forename: Jenny K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Gustafsson
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ermund
authors.forename: Durai B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Subramani
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Holmén-Larsson
authors.forename: Kristina A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Thomsson
authors.forename: Joakim H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.forename: Sjoerd
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van der Post
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Piñeiro
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sjövall
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bäckström
authors.forename: Gunnar C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020895:Enterocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal / Q000276:immunology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D007422:Intestines / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009077:Mucins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009077:Mucins