The Copper Stain Kit (SkyTek, USA) was used to stain the hemocytes. As described by the kit manufacturer, one drop of Rhodanine solution was added to 9 drops of acetate to form the working solution.

Western blot analyses with mucin specific antibodies and densitometry were performed to validate the mass spectrometry findings. LC-MS/MS results identified mucin MUC5B by >26 unique peptides in ...