36-240aa; partial. MW: 38.83kD. Purity >90% as determined by SDS-PAGE. Coats the epithelia of the intestines, airways, and other mucus membrane-containing organs. Thought to provide a protective, lubricating barrier against particles and infectious agents at mucosal surfaces. Major constituent of both the inner and outer mucus layers of the colon and may play a role in excluding bacteria from the inner mucus layer.
Molecular cloning of human intestinal mucin (MUC2) cDNA. Identification of the amino terminus and overall sequence similarity to prepro-von Willebrand factor.Gum J.R. Jr., Hicks J.W., Toribara N.W., Siddiki B., Kim Y.S.J. Biol. Chem. 269:2440-2446(1994) The human MUC2 intestinal mucin has cysteine-rich subdomains located both upstream and downstream of its central repetitive region.Gum J.R. Jr., Hicks J.W., Toribara N.W., Rothe E.-M., Lagace R.E., Kim Y.S.J. Biol. Chem. 267:21375-21383(1992) MUC