Nanoparticles that readily penetrate mucosal layers are desirable for a variety of biomedical applications. Nevertheless, most nanoparticles tend to be immobilized in mucus via steric and/or adhesive interactions. Contrary to the established opinion that poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is mucoadhesive, we discovered that coating otherwise mucoadhesive nanoparticles with certain partially hydrolyzed P...

We designed a simple coarse-grained model of the glycocalyx layer, or adhesive mucus layer (AML), covered by mucus gel (luminal mucus layer) using a polymer lattice model and stochastic sampling (replica exchange Monte Carlo) for canonical ensemble simulations. We assumed that mucin MUC16 is responsible for the structural properties of the AML. Other mucins that are much smaller in size and les...

A multi-mode nonlinear constitutive model for mucus is constructed directly from micro- and macro-rheology experimental data on cell culture mucus, and a numerical algorithm is developed for the culture geometry and idealized cilia driving conditions. This study investigates the roles that mucus rheology, wall effects, and HBE culture geometry play in the development of flow profiles and the sh...

BARRIER PROPERTIES OF MUCUS Hasan M. Yildiz, Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University Mucus, a complex network consisting of microand nano-scale fluid-filled domains formed via mucin glycoprotein interactions, provides a barrier through which nutrients and orally delivered drugs must penetrate before entering the circulatory system. Mucus provides a significant, yet poorly characterized ba...

The protective and lubricative r6le of mucus in the gastro-intestinal tract has been reported and studied by many investigators (Claude Bernard (4), Schiff (18), de Klug (12), Whitlow (19), Elliott (7), Pavlov (16), Berg and Jobling (3), Leriche (14), and Bucher (6)). An absolute or relative deficiency of gastric mucus has been frequently suggested as a possible etiologic factor in gastro-duode...

The significance of mucus trails derived from the herbivorous gastropods Patella caerulea, Monodonta turbinata and Tegula sp. in enhancing microbial activity in marine rocky intertidal and sublittoral zones was investigated by means of microcosm and field experiments. A pronounced increase of bacterial abundance concurrently with extracellular glucosidase activity (alpha-Dand betaD-glucosidase)...

BACKGROUND Patients with gastroduodenal disease produce gastric mucus of higher viscosity, and mucins that are of a smaller size, than normal. We have modelled these changes to the mucus layer in solutions of methylcellulose, and measured bacterial motility in biopsied mucus, to assess how they might influence the movements of Helicobacter pylori. METHODS Motilities of Helicobacter pylori wer...

Recombinant human deoxyribonuclease (rhDNase) has been demonstrated to reduce in vitro the viscosity and to improve the transport capacity of purulent respiratory mucus in cystic fibrosis. During episodes of exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, the patients generally expectorate purulent mucus. Purulence of mucus is associated with an increased deoxyriboneucleic acid (DNA) concentration. We anal...

Mucus is an integral part of the tear film with functions including the anchoring of the aqueous components and stabilising their contact with the cornea by rendering structural support to the microplicae, having potential involvement in apoptotic and cell mediating activity as well as combatting pathogens and foreign bodies.1 Ocular mucus helps maintain the wettability of the ocular surface an...