• Mucin's gene expression

The epithelial tissue is constitute of various columnar cell types that build the covering of the intestine. In the length of the intestine, and all mucosal tissues, are disperse some goblet cells. These cells are unicellular glands and they produce glycoproteins called mucins, which give mucus its specific viscoelastic physical and chemical properties. Mucins are a group of glycoproteins secreted from the respiratory epithelium, gastrointestinal and genital tract. The reason of development for an epithelial barrier is to separate metazoan from the external environment. This was necessitate by the evolution of defence mechanisms that implicate mucins. These are very important because they have the function to lubrificate the various organs and to protect them from the attack of chemical and bacterial agents. Mucus provides protective functions in the gastrointestinal tract and plays an important role in the adhesion of microorganisms to host surfaces, including families such as probiotic Lactobacillus strains. The mucus is mainly present in the colon, whereas the presence of bacteria in the digestive tract is greater. Some studies indicate that intestinal microbes and compound like polyphenol, or dairy products may influence goblet cell dynamics and the mucus layer. This happens or directly by the local release of bioactive factors or indirectly by activation of the host immune cells. The alteration of the gene expression of mucin appears to be correlate with the development of inflammatory diseases or tumors. The subject of these thesis is a genic expression analysis of four mucins (MUC 2, MUC 3A, MUC 13 and MUC 17) related by probiotic bacteria, polyphenol and dairy products.