MUC5B and Autoimmunity: In addition to the protective role of stimulating the production of many antibacterial proteins (b-defensins, mucins: MUC5AC, MUC5B, S100 calgranulins, lipocalin 2), IL-17 appears to be important in autoimmunity as evidenced by the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) [12, 28].