Mucin Biology Groups Welcome! Our Research Areas Mass Spectrometry All Members of the Groups Publications Equipment Support Links Contact and Map for Visits Open Positions   DATABASES Mucin Database version 2.2, Oct. 2022 Mucin Structures, Download .txt and change to .pdb and open in PyMOL or ChimeraX	Welcome to the 2026 Homepage of the MUCIN BIOLOGY GROUPS (MUCINBIOLOGISKA GRUPPERNA) >INTERNATIONAL LEADER OF MUCUS AND MUCIN RESEARCH< THIS IS THE COMMON HOMEPAGE OF THE MUCIN BIOLOGY GROUPS GUNNAR C. HANSSON Research Group MALIN E.V. JOHANSSON Research Group THAHER PELASEYED Research Group GEORGE BIRCHENOUGH Research Group SJOERD VAN DER POST Research Group JENNY GUSTAFSSON Research Group ANA S. LUIS Research Group JESPER M. MAGNUSSON Clinical Research Group KRISTINA JOHANSSON Research Group ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- MucoLife Therapeutics AB, click to the right Lederhausen's Center for Cystic Fibrosis Research, click to the right. See also presentation (in Swedish) of mucus and CF at the Lederhausen homepage   NEWS DURING 2025 and TO FEBRUARY 2026: ---------------------------------- FEBRUARY 2026; NEW ARTICLE ON MUC12 IN NATURE GENETICS: Moksnes MR, Coward E, Nethander M, Dekkers K, Grahnemo L, Tornqvist AE, Li L, Lundmark P, Pertiwi K, Baldanzi G, Mjelle R, Moll JM, Eklund AC, Nielsen HB, Svensson J, Langhammer A, Giskeodegard GF, Brumpton B, Hjort R, Ness-Jensen E, Engstrom G, Pelaseyed T, Michaelsson K, Orho-Melander M, Fall T, Hveem K, Ohlsson C. The HUNT study identifies host genetic factors reproducibly associated with human gut microbiota composition. Nat Genet. 2026 Feb 13. doi: 10.1038/s41588-026-02502-4. ---------------------------------- JANUARY 2026; NEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN NATURE COMMUN: Trillo-Muyo, Sergio, Dolan, Brendan, Svensson, Frida, Vickers, Tim J., Arike, Liisa, Garc+Ħa-Bonete, Maria Jose, Gustafsson, Jenny K., Nielsen, Mathias I., Wandall, Hans H., Fleckenstein, James M., Hansson, Gunnar C., and van der Post, Sjoerd. EatA mediated degradation of intestinal mucus is species-specific and driven by MUC2 structural features. Nature Communications 17(1), 158. 2026 ---------------------------------- JANUARY 2026: ELISABETH NYSTROM starts her own to MBG affiliated laboratory at KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET, Stockholm ---------------------------------- NOVEMBER 2025 ANA S. LUIS got a grant based on her high scores (A) on her ERC STARTING GRANT application. This award was given by Erling Pehrsson foundation as part of the the Swedish Foundations Starting Grants initiative. The award is 15 MSEK for 5 years. ---------------------------------- NOVEMBER 2025 Bill Gates Foundation has awarded Thaher Pelaseyed and Malin EV Johansson 12 MSEK for stuying Mucin Dynamics in Environmental Enteric Dysfunction ---------------------------------- NOVEMBER 2025: Heart and Lung Foundation has awarded Gunnar C. Hansson SEK 2,900 000 for 2026-2027 ---------------------------------- IN CELL REPORTS: van Rijn JM, Lopes ACC, Dienhart FSV, Ceylan M, Trinks N, Eriksson J, Bergholtz A, Ntokaki A, Hammar R, Sundbom M, Skogar M, Graf W, Webb DL, Hellstrom PM, Artursson P, Pelaseyed T, Di Martino ML, Sellin ME. Maturation of human intestinal epithelial cell layers fortifies the apical surface against Salmonella attack. Cell Rep. 2025 Dec 23;44(12):116579. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116579. ---------------------------------- IN CELL Host&Microbe: Winsor, Nathaniel J., Bayer, Giuliano, Singh, Ojas, Chan, Jeremy K., Li, Lu Yi, Lieng, Brandon Y., Foerster, Elisabeth, Popovic, Ana, Tsankov, Boyan K., Maughan, Heather, Lemire, Paul, Tam, Elaine, Streutker, Catherine, Chen, Lina, Heaver, Stacey L., Ley, Ruth E., Parkinson, John, Montenegro-Burke, J. Rafael, Birchenough, George M. H., Philpott, Dana J., and Girardin, Stephen E. Cross-kingdom-mediated detection of intestinal protozoa through NLRP6. Cell Host & Microbe 33, 388-407; doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2025.02.008. 2025 ---------------------------------- IN NATURE IMMUNOL. Jakob, Manuel O., Sterczyk, Nele, Boulekou, Sotiria, Forster, Patrycja M., Barleben, Luisa, Alzain, Nadra, Jarick, Katja J., Pirzgalska, Roksana M., Raposo, Bruno, Hansson, Karl, Nystrom, Elisabeth E. L., Gondrand, Aurelia, Gonzalez-Acera, Miguel, Leclcre, Pierre S., Lapson, Marlen S., Poggenseier, Sarah, Deshpande, Divija, Velleman, Laura, Breiderhoff, Tilman, Brunkhorst, Max Felix, Schele, Anton M., Guerra, Gabriela M., Durek, Pawel, Mashreghi, Mir Farzin, Kohl, Anja A., Chu, Coco, Schneider, Christoph, Weidinger, Carl, Siegmund, Britta, Nordmann, Thierry M., Voehringer, David, Patankar, Jay V., Becker, Christoph, Birchenough, George M. H., Veiga-Fernandes, Henrique, Ronchi, Francesca, Kolesnichenko, Marina, Diefenbach, Andreas, and Klose, Christoph S. N. Enteric nervous system-derived VIP restrains differentiation of LGR5+ stem cells toward the secretory lineage impeding type 2 immune programs. Nature Immunology . 2025. ---------------------------------- IN J. EXP. MED.: Johansson, Asa, Venkita Subramani, Mahadevan, Yilmaz, Bahtiyar, Nystrom, Elisabeth E. L., Layunta, Elena, Arike, Liisa, Sommer, Felix, Rosenstiel, Philip, Vereecke, Lars, Manneras-Holm, Louise, Wullaert, Andy, Pelaseyed, Thaher, Johansson, Malin E. V., and Birchenough, George M. H. Neonatal microbiota colonization primes maturation of goblet cell-mediated protection in the pre-weaning colon. The Journal of Experimental Medicine 222(8), e20241591. 5-5-2025. ---------------------------------- IN EMBO Reports: Trillo-Muyo, S., Ermund, A., and Hansson, G. C. (2025) Structure of the MUC5AC VWD3 assembly responsible for the formation of net-like mucin polymers . EMBO Reports 26, 1457-1471, doi.org/10.1038/s44319-025-00395-8. ---------------------------------- IN PNAS: Crawford, Conor J., Tomlinson, Charles W. E., Gunawan, Christian, Chen, Zongjia, Byrne, Dominic P., Darby, Cosette, Conti, Martina L. G., Larson, Tony, Luis, Ana S., Elli, Stefano, Yates, Edwin A., Bolam, David N., van der Post, Sjoerd, Williams, Spencer J., and Cartmell, Alan. Arylsulfamates inhibit colonic Bacteroidota growth through a sulfatase-independent mechanism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(28), e2414331122. 7-15-2025 ---------------------------------- IN AM.J.PHYSIOL.: Rowe, Matthew C., Pettersson, Victor L., Carbone, Simona Elisa, Gustafsson, Jenny K., and Poole, Daniel P. Neural Control of Goblet Cell Function in the Gastrointestinal Tract. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology . 8-18-2025 ---------------------------------- IN CMGH: Gustafsson, Jenny K. and Knoop, Kathryn A. A Sex-specific Role for Goblet Cells and Mucus Homeostasis in the Intestine. Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology , 101585. 2025 ---------------------------------- REVIEW ARTICLE ON MUCINS Pelaseyed, T., Johansson, M. E. V., and Hansson, G. C. The Mucins. Kaye, Paul. Encyclopedia of Immunobiology. 2d, 462-471. 2026. London, Elsevier. Personal copies can be obtained from the authors. ---------------------------------- The Mucin Sequence Database 2.2 was updated 2022 with the complete MUC3A and MUC3B sequences. ---------------------------------- RECENT PUBLICATIONS (2023-2026) Moksnes MR, Coward E, Nethander M, Dekkers K, Grahnemo L, Tornqvist AE, Li L, Lundmark P, Pertiwi K, Baldanzi G, Mjelle R, Moll JM, Eklund AC, Nielsen HB, Svensson J, Langhammer A, Giskeodegard GF, Brumpton B, Hjort R, Ness-Jensen E, Engstrom G, Pelaseyed T, Michaelsson K, Orho-Melander M, Fall T, Hveem K, Ohlsson C. The HUNT study identifies host genetic factors reproducibly associated with human gut microbiota composition. Nat Genet. 2026 Feb 13. doi: 10.1038/s41588-026-02502-4. Trillo-Muyo, Sergio, Dolan, Brendan, Svensson, Frida, Vickers, Tim J., Arike, Liisa, Garcia-Bonete, Maria Jose, Gustafsson, Jenny K., Nielsen, Mathias I., Wandall, Hans H., Fleckenstein, James M., Hansson, Gunnar C., and van der Post, Sjoerd. EatA mediated degradation of intestinal mucus is species-specific and driven by MUC2 structural features. Nature Communications 17(1), 158. 2026. Crawford, Conor J., Tomlinson, Charles W. E., Gunawan, Christian, Chen, Zongjia, Byrne, Dominic P., Darby, Cosette, Conti, Martina L. G., Larson, Tony, Luis, Ana S., Elli, Stefano, Yates, Edwin A., Bolam, David N., van der Post, Sjoerd, Williams, Spencer J., and Cartmell, Alan. Arylsulfamates inhibit colonic Bacteroidota growth through a sulfatase-independent mechanism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(28), e2414331122. 7-15-2025 van Rijn JM, Lopes ACC, Dienhart FSV, Ceylan M, Trinks N, Eriksson J, Bergholtz A, Ntokaki A, Hammar R, Sundbom M, Skogar M, Graf W, Webb DL, Hellstrom PM, Artursson P, Pelaseyed T, Di Martino ML, Sellin ME. Maturation of human intestinal epithelial cell layers fortifies the apical surface against Salmonella attack. Cell Rep. 2025 Dec 23;44(12):116579. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116579. Jakob, Manuel O., Sterczyk, Nele, Boulekou, Sotiria, Forster, Patrycja M., Barleben, Luisa, Alzain, Nadra, Jarick, Katja J., Pirzgalska, Roksana M., Raposo, Bruno, Hansson, Karl, Nystrom, Elisabeth E. L., Gondrand, Aurelia, Gonzalez-Acera, Miguel, Leclcre, Pierre S., Lapson, Marlen S., Poggenseier, Sarah, Deshpande, Divija, Velleman, Laura, Breiderhoff, Tilman, Brunkhorst, Max Felix, Schele, Anton M., Guerra, Gabriela M., Durek, Pawel, Mashreghi, Mir Farzin, Kohl, Anja A., Chu, Coco, Schneider, Christoph, Weidinger, Carl, Siegmund, Britta, Nordmann, Thierry M., Voehringer, David, Patankar, Jay V., Becker, Christoph, Birchenough, George M. H., Veiga-Fernandes, Henrique, Ronchi, Francesca, Kolesnichenko, Marina, Diefenbach, Andreas, and Klose, Christoph S. N. Enteric nervous system-derived VIP restrains differentiation of LGR5+ stem cells toward the secretory lineage impeding type 2 immune programs. Nature Immunology . 2025. Rowe, Matthew C., Pettersson, Victor L., Carbone, Simona Elisa, Gustafsson, Jenny K., and Poole, Daniel P. Neural Control of Goblet Cell Function in the Gastrointestinal Tract. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology . 8-18-2025 Gustafsson, Jenny K. and Knoop, Kathryn A. A Sex-specific Role for Goblet Cells and Mucus Homeostasis in the Intestine. Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology , 101585. 2025. Tofthagen, Marthe, Jin, Chunsheng, Patel, Piyush, Sjoberg, Fei, Luis, Ana S., Maciej-Hulme, Marissa L., and Karlsson, Niclas G. Exploring the O-glycomic Degradome Using Natural Mucin Libraries. Brockhausen, Inka. Dynamics of Bacteria-Mucus Interactions. 145-156. 2025. New York, NY, Springer US. Johansson, Asa, Venkita Subramani, Mahadevan, Yilmaz, Bahtiyar, Nystrom, Elisabeth E. L., Layunta, Elena, Arike, Liisa, Sommer, Felix, Rosenstiel, Philip, Vereecke, Lars, Manneras-Holm, Louise, Wullaert, Andy, Pelaseyed, Thaher, Johansson, Malin E. V., and Birchenough, George M. H. Neonatal microbiota colonization primes maturation of goblet cell-mediated protection in the pre-weaning colon. The Journal of Experimental Medicine 222(8), e20241591. 5-5-2025 Azimzadeh, Philippe N., Birchenough, George M., Gualbuerto, Nathaniel C., Pinkner, Jerome S., Tamadonfar, Kevin O., Beatty, Wandy, Hannan, Thomas J., Dodson, Karen W., Ibarra, Enid C., Kim, Seonyoung, Schreiber, Henry L., Janetka, James W., Kau, Andrew L., Earl, Ashlee M., Miller, Mark J., Hansson, Gunnar C., and Hultgren, Scott J. Mechanisms of uropathogenic E. coli mucosal association in the gastrointestinal tract. Science Advances 11(5), eadp7066. 2025 Layunta, Elena, Javerfelt, Sofia, van de Koolwijk, Fleur C., Sivertsson, Molly, Dolan, Brendan, Arike, Liisa, Thulin, Sara I. M., Vallance, Bruce A., and Pelaseyed, Thaher. (2024) MUC17 is an essential small intestinal glycocalyx component that is disrupted in Crohns disease. JCI Insight, doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.181481. Pashos, Alison R. S., Meyer, Anne R., Bussey-Sutton, Cameron, OConnor, Erin S., Coradin, Mariel, Coulombe, Marilyne, Riemondy, Kent A., Potlapelly, Sanjana, Strahl, Brian D., Hansson, Gunnar C., Dempsey, Peter J., and Brumbaugh, Justin. (2025) H3K36 methylation regulates cell plasticity and regeneration in the intestinal epithelium. Nature Cell Biology, on-line, doi.org/10.1038/s41556-024-01580-y. REViEW Gustafsson, J. K. and Hansson, G. C. (2025) Immune Regulation of Goblet Cell - Mucus Function in Health and Disease. Annual Rev. Immunol. 43, on-line (doi.org/10.1146/annurev-immunol-101721-065224). Javerfelt, Sofia, Hellsen, Gustaf, Kaji, Izumi, Goldenring, James R., and Pelaseyed, Thaher. (2024) The MYO1B and MYO5B motor proteins and the sorting nexin SNX27 regulate apical targeting of membrane mucin MUC17 in enterocytes. Biochemical Journal , BCJ20240204. Ehrencrona, E., Gallego, P., Trillo-Muyo, S., Garcia-Bonete, M. J., Recktenwald, C. V., Hansson, G. C., and Johansson, M. E. V. (2024) The FCGBP structure is formed as a disulfide mediated homodimer between its C-terminal domains. FEBS J., on-line, http://doi.org/10.1111/febs.17383. Philipson, E., Jabbar, K., Bratlie, S. O., Hansson, G. C., Persson, J., Vilhav, C., Wennerblom, J., Sadik, R., Naredi, P., Bourghardt Fagman, J., and Engstrom, C. (2024) Adjunct mucin biomarkers MUC2+MUC5AC and MUC5AC+PSCA in a clinical setting identify and may improve correct selection of high-risk pancreatic lesions for surgery. HPB. on-line https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpb.2024.10.018 Raba, G., Luis, A. S., Schneider, H., Morell, I., Jin, C., Adamsberg, S., Hansson, G. C., Adamsberg, K., and Arike, L. (2024) Metaproteomics reveal parallel utilization of colonic mucin glycans and dietary fibres by the human gut microbiota. iScience, 27, 110093. Ljungholm, Penny L., Ermund, Anna, Soderlund Garsveden, Molly M., Pettersson, Victor L., and Gustafsson, Jenny K. (2024) The anion exchanger slc26a3 regulates colonic mucus expansion during steady state and in response to prostaglandin E2, while Cftr regulates de novo mucus release in response to carbamylcholine. Pflugers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology 476(8), 1209-1219. . Rajan , Anandi, Gallego , Pablo, Dolan , Brendan, Patel , Piyush, Dwibedi , Chinmay, Ana, S., Trillo, Muyo, Arike , Liisa, van, der Post, Simren , Magnus, and Pelaseyed , Thaher. (2024) BPP43_05035 is a Brachyspira pilosicoli cell surface adhesin that weakens the integrity of the epithelial barrier during infection. Gut Microbes 16(1), 2409247. Paone, Paola, Latousakis, Dimitris, Terrasi, Romano, Vertommen, Didier, Jian, Ching, Borlandelli, Valentina, Suriano, Francesco, Johansson, Malin E. V., Puel, Anthony, Bouzin, Caroline, Delzenne, Nathalie M., Salonen, Anne, Juge, Nathalie, Florea, Bogdan I., Muccioli, Giulio G., Overkleeft, Herman, Van Hul, Matthias, and Cani, Patrice D. (2024) Human milk oligosaccharide a-fucosyllactose protects against high-fat diet-induced obesity by changing intestinal mucus production, composition and degradation linked to changes in gut microbiota and faecal proteome profiles in mice. Gut 73(10), 1632. Schaus, S. R., Periera, G. V., Luis, A. S., Madlambayan, E., Ostrowski, M. P., Jin, C., Hansson, G. C., and Martens, E. C. (2024) Ruminococcus torques is a keystone degrader of intestinal mucin glycoprotein, releasing oligosaccharides used by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. mBio, 15, e00039-24. Recktenwald, C. V., Karlsson, G., Garcia-Bonete, M. J., Katona, G., Jensen, M., Lymer, R., Backstrom, M., Johansson, M. E. V., Hansson, G. C., and Trillo-Muyo, S. (2024) The structure of the second CysD domain of MUC2 and role in mucin organization by transglutaminase-based cross-linking. Cell Rep., 43, 114207. Greiner, T. U., Koh, A., Peris, E., Bergentall, M., Johansson, M. E. V., Hansson, G. C., Drucker, D. J., and Backhed, F. (2024) GLP-1R signaling modulates colonic energy metabolism, goblet cell number and survival in the absence of gut microbiota. Molecular Metabolism 83, 101924. Bos, M.F., Ermund A., Hansson, G.C., and de Graaf, J. (2023) Goblet cell interactions reorient bundled mucus strands for efficient airway clearance. PNAS Nexus, 2, pgad388. Arnesen, H., Markussen, T., Birchenough, G., Birkeland, S., Nystrom, E. E. L., Hansson, G. C., Carlsen, H., and Boysen, P. (2023) Microbial experience through housing in a farmyard-type environment alters intestinal barrier properties in mouse colons. Scientific Reports 13, 13701. REVIEW Luis, A.S. and Hansson, G.C. (2023) Intestinal mucus and their glycans: A habitat for thriving microbiota. Cell Host & Microbe 31, 1087-1100. Bulck, C., Nystrom, E., Koudelka, T., Mannbar-Frahm, M., Andresen, G., Radhouani, M., Tran, F., Scharfenberg, F., Schrell, F., Armbrust, F., Dahlke, E., Zhao, B., Vervaeke, A., Theilig, F., Rosenstiel, P., Starki, P., Rosshart, S. P., FIckenscher, H., Tholey, A., Hansson, G. C., and Becker-Pauly, C. (2023) Proteolytic processing of galectin-3 by meprin metalloproteases is crucial for host microbiome homeostasis. Science Advances 9, eadf4055. Rodriguez-Pineiro, A.M., Jaudas, F., Klymiuk, N., Bahr, A., Hansson, G.C., and Ermund, A. (2023) Proteome of airway surface liquid and mucus in newborn wildtype and cystic fibrosis piglets. Respiratory Research 24(1), 83. Gallego, P., Garcia-Bonete, M. J., Trillo-Muyo, S., Recktenwald, C. V., Johansson, M. E. V., and Hansson, G. C. (2023) The intestinal MUC2 mucin C-terminus is stabilized by an extra disulfide bond in comparison to von Willebrand factor and other gel-forming mucins. Nature Communications, on-line. Birchenough, G. M. H., Schroeder, B. O., Sharba, S., Arike, L., Recktenwald, C. V., Puertolas-Balint, F., Subramani, M. V., Hansson, K. T., Yilmaz, B., Linden, S. K., Backhed, F., and Hansson, G. C. Muc2-dependent microbial colonization of the jejunal mucus layer is diet sensitive and confers local resistance to enteric pathogen infection. Cell Reports 42(2). 2-28-2023 REVIEW Raba, G. and Luis, A. S. Mucin utilization by gut microbiota: recent advances on characterization of key enzymes. Essays in Biochemistry 67, 345-353. 2023 REVIEW Luis, Ana S, Yates, Edwin A, and Cartmell, Alan. Functions and specificity of bacterial carbohydrate sulfatases targeting host glycans. Essays in Biochemistry 67(3), 429-442. 2023 LINKS MUCIN BIOLOGY GROUP Prof. Gunnar C. Hansson MUCIN BIOLOGY GROUP Dr. Malin E.V. Johansson MUCIN BIOLOGY GROUP Dr. Thaher Pelaseyed MUCIN BIOLOGY GROUP Dr. George Birchenough MucoLife Therapeutics Associated with MBG Lederhausen's Center for Cystic Fibrosis Research