Regulation of Mucin Secretion in the Ferret Trachea

Abstract Mucin is the major component of mucus and can be used as a marker for mucus secretion. The purpose of this study was to develop an in vitro method to evaluate the regulation of mucin secretion. To do this, we used a sandwiched enzyme–linked lectin assay to measure mucin secretion from isolated ferret tracheal segments. This assay entailed coating microtiter plate wells with dolichos biflorus agglutinin and detecting the bound mucin that was secreted into a buffer solution by the tracheal segments. We used this method to evaluate the secretory response to four secretagogues: prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α ), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), methacholine, and human neutrophil elastase (HNE). Each agent stimulated mucin secretion above baseline secretion (ATP [ p = 0.022], PGF 2α [ p = 0.009], and HNE [ p < 0.05]), and the relative potency of these secretagogues was PGF 2α ≤ ATP (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1997;117:480-6.)