The role of mucus and its components in protection and repair within the alimentary tract mucosa: Polish experience

The Gastroenterology Research Laboratory at New York Medical College, New York City, NY, directed by Prof. Dr. George B. Jerzy Glass and after his retirement by Prof. Dr. Bronislaw L. Slomiany and Prof. Dr. Amalia Slomiany served as a lunching pad for successful careers in exploration of mucus for Dr. Andrzej Gindzienski and Dr. Krzysztof Zwierz and Janusz Badurski at the Medical School in Bialystok, Poland as well as Dr. Jerzy Sarosiek at Gastroenterology Research Laboratory, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA and currently, Gastroenterology Research Laboratory, Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. The dynamic and insightful research endeavors implemented at the Medical School of Bialystok revealed new information regarding enzymatic pathways of mucin synthesis especially its carbohydrate components such as hexosamines. These discoveries become instrumental in our understanding of the alimentary tract mucin synthesis and function in health and disease. Similarly innovative mucus research conducted across the Atlantic Ocean uncovered the novelty of mucin elaborated within the esophageal submucosal mucous glands in humans by demonstration that its chemical characteristics are different both from human salivary and gastric mucins. In addition, a novel method for the measurement of the thickness of the gastric mucus layer ex vivo in humans has also been developed. These pioneering works are continued at both mucus exploration centers attracting younger generation of investigators enticed by the mystery of the structure and function of the mucus barrier and its leading role in mucosal protection against injury as well as immediate and unequivocal contribution to mucosal repair and reconstitution process.