Recently, we cloned and characterized a full-length cDNA of the hamster Muc1 gene, the expression of which appears to be associated with secretory cell differentiation (Park HR, Hyun SW, and Kim KC. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 15: 237-244, 1996). The role of Muc1 mucins in the airway, however, is unknown. In this study, we investigated whether cell surface mucins are adhesion sites for Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells not normally expressing Muc1 mucin were stably transfected with the hamster Muc1 cDNA, and binding to P. aeruginosa was examined. Our results showed that 1) stably transfected CHO cells expressed both Muc1 mRNA and Muc1 mucins based on Northern and Western blot analyses, 2) Muc1 mucins present on the cell surface were degraded by neutrophil elastase, and 3) expression of Muc1 mucins on the cell surface resulted in a significant increase in adhesion of P. aeruginosa that was completely abolished by either proteolytic cleavage with neutrophil elastase or deletion of the extracellular domain by mutation. We conclude that Muc1 mucins expressed on the surface of CHO cells serve as adhesion sites for P. aeruginosa, suggesting a possible role for these glycoproteins in the early stage of airway infection and providing a model system for studying epithelial cell responses to bacterial adhesion that leads to airway inflammation in general and cystic fibrosis in particular.

We aimed to investigate the mechanism of shaking as a prenatal stressor impacting the development of the offspring and Chinese medicines correcting the alterations. Pregnant rats were randomized into earthquake simulation group (ESG), herbal group (HG) which received herbal supplements in feed after shaking, and control group (CG). Findings revealed body weight and open field test (OFT) score of ESG offspring were statistically inferior to the CG and HG offspring. The corticosterone levels of ESG were higher than those of CG but not than HG. The dopamine level of ESG was slightly lower than that of the CG and of HG was higher than that of ESG. The 5-HT of ESG was higher than CG and HG. The growth hormone level of the ESG was significantly lower than ESG but not than CG. Gene expression profile showed 81 genes upregulated and 39 genes downregulated in ESG versus CG, and 60 genes upregulated and 28 genes downregulated in ESG versus HG. Eighty-four genes were found differentially expressed in ESG versus CG comparison and were normalized in ESG versus HG. We conclude that maternal shaking negatively affected physical and nervous system development, with specific alterations in neurohormones and gene expression. Chinese herbal medicine reduced these negative outcomes.