Purification of Gastrointestinal Mucins and Analysis of Their O-Linked Oligosaccharides

The role of mucus in the protection of intestinal, bronchial, nasopharyngeal, and cervical mucosae has long been recognized, but poorly understood. Research has been stimulated by the expectation that an underlying mucus abnormality might be present, not only in diseases such as cystic fibrosis where there is an obvious physical alteration in mucus, but also in conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, peptic ulceration, and intestinal cancer where mucus abnormalities at present seem more subtle (1 ). Progress has been relatively slow, however, not least because of the difficulties in obtaining a pure but undamaged mucus glycoprotein (mucin) preparation.