Abstract
Mucins and mucin-like molecules are highly O-glycosylated proteins present on the cell surface of mammals and other organisms. These glycoproteins are highly diverse in the apoprotein and glycan cores and play a central role in many biological processes and diseases. Mucins are the most abundant macromolecules in mucus and are responsible for its biochemical and biophysical properties. Mucin-like molecules cover various protozoan parasites, fungi and viruses. In humans, modifications in mucin glycosylation are associated with tumors in epithelial tissue. These modifications allow the distinction between normal and abnormal cell conditions and represent important targets for vaccine development against some cancers. Mucins and mucin-like molecules derived from pathogens are potential diagnostic markers and targets for therapeutic agents. In this review, we summarize the distribution, structure, role as immunomodulators, and the correlation of human mucins with diseases and perform a comparative analysis of mucins with mucin-like molecules present in human pathogens. Furthermore, we review the methods to produce pathogenic and human mucins using chemical synthesis and expression systems. Finally, we present applications of mucin-like molecules in diagnosis and prevention of relevant human diseases.
Highlights
Physical protection from external pathogens and molecules is essential for cell survival
Some human pathogens use similar protection mechanisms involving highly O-glycosylated proteins (Buscaglia et al, 2006). These molecules are present in parasites, viruses and fungi and include mucin-like regions (Herpes virus), mucin-like domains (Ebola virus and Toxoplasma Gondii), mucin-like glycoproteins (Cryptosporidium parvum), mucin-associated surface proteins MASPs (Trypanosoma cruzi), and mucin-type proteins (Candida albicans), among others
There is a link between human mucins, pathogenic mucin-like molecules and their expression in multiple diseases
Summary
Physical protection from external pathogens and molecules is essential for cell survival. It covers human organs and glands and contains proteins having highly O-glycosylated repeats, called mucins (Corfield, 2015; Bansil and Turner, 2018). Mucins and MLMs of protozoa, viruses and fungi protect these pathogens from the vector and vertebrate-host defense mechanisms and can have a critical role in targeting, attachment and invasion of specific host cells and tissues (Buscaglia et al, 2006; Lee and Saphire, 2009).
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