Figure 3.

MUC1 contributes to a protective physical barrier and activation of repair in epithelia. The MUC1 heterodimer is poised in a basal state at the apical cell membrane as a sensor of homeostasis. Entropic forces in the glycocalyx induced in association with loss of homeostasis, as well as proteolytic cleavage, disrupt the MUC1-N/MUC1-C complex with release of MUC1-N into a protective physical barrier. Activation of MUC1-C induces a program of repair associated with the wound healing response. Figure modified from Kufe [9].