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Updated: Oct 9, 2026

Three-dimensional Quantification of Intestinal Mucus Using Whole-mount Tissue Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2025
Mucins and immune reactions to mucins in ulcerative colitis
T Hayashi1, T Ishida, S Motoya
1First Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, Japan. Toshiaki_Hayashi@dfci.harvard.edu
Abstract:
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease of undetermined etiology. Mucins, mainly produced by goblet cells, protect colon cells from various kinds of stress. Alteration in the quality or quantity of mucins may be the cause of the disease. Another possible cause is immune reactions to colonic cells. Anti-MUC1 antibodies were detected in the sera of patients with UC. Antibodies would destroy the colonic cells through antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. We reviewed the significance of mucins as well as humoral and cellular immunity in the pathogenesis of UC.
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