Mucins are large glycoproteins that are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. Mucins coat the surfaces of many cell types and can be secreted to form mucus gels that assume important physiological roles in many animals. Our growing understanding of the structure and function of mucin molecules and their functionalities has sparked interest in investigating the use of mucins as building blocks for innovative functional biomaterials. These pioneering studies have explored how new biomaterials can benefit from the barrier properties, hydration and lubrication properties, unique chemical diversity, and bioactivities of mucins. Owing to their multifunctionality, mucins have been used in a wide variety of applications, including as antifouling coatings, as selective filters, and artificial tears and saliva, as basis for cosmetics, as drug delivery materials, and as natural detergents. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding key mucin properties and survey how they have been put to use. We offer a vision for how mucins could be used in the near future and what challenges await the field before biomaterials made of mucins and mucin-mimics can be translated into commercial products.

中文翻译：

---

粘蛋白是生物材料的多功能构建块†

粘蛋白是在动物界普遍存在的大糖蛋白。粘蛋白覆盖着许多细胞类型的表面，可以分泌形成粘液，这些粘液在许多动物中起着重要的生理作用。我们对粘蛋白分子的结构和功能及其功能的日益了解，激发了人们对研究将粘蛋白用作创新功能生物材料的基础材料的兴趣。这些开创性研究探索了新型生物材料如何从粘蛋白的阻隔性能，水合和润滑性能，独特的化学多样性和生物活性中受益。由于粘蛋白具有多功能性，因此已在多种应用中使用，包括用作防污涂料，选择性过滤器，人造眼泪和唾液，用作化妆品的基础，用作药物输送材料，以及作为天然洗涤剂。在这篇综述中，我们总结了关于关键粘蛋白特性的当前知识，并调查了它们如何使用。我们提供了在不久的将来如何使用粘蛋白以及粘蛋白和模仿类似物制成的生物材料被转化为商业产品之前该领域面临的挑战的远景。