We introduce a mixture model intended to describe the dynamics of the mucus layer that wraps the gut mucosa. This model takes into account the fluid mechanics of the gut content, the inhomogeneous rheology that depends on the fluid composition, and the main physiological mechanisms that ensure the homoeostasis of the mucus layer. Numerical simulations, based on a finite volume approach, prove t...

A Cylindrical two layer fluid model for the transport of serous and mucus layer in the human trachea and the steady state condition due to cilia beating, some immotile cilia forming porous bed in serous sub -layer in contact with the epithelium and air motion by considering mucus as a visco-elastic fluid are studied. The effect of air-motion due to forced expiration and other processes is consi...

Airway surface liquid is comprised of mucus and an underlying, watery periciliary liquid (PCL). In contrast to the well-described axial transport of mucus along airway surfaces via ciliary action, theoretical analyses predict that the PCL is nearly stationary. Conventional and confocal microscopy of fluorescent microspheres and photoactivated fluorescent dyes were used with well-differentiated ...

In this study, the mobility of nanoparticles in mucus and similar hydrogels as model systems was assessed to elucidate the link between microscopic diffusion behavior and macroscopic penetration of such gels. Differences in particle adhesion to mucus components were strongly dependent on particle coating. Particles coated with 2 kDa PEG exhibited a decreased adhesion to mucus components, wherea...

The secreted, goblet cell-derived protein Clca1 (chloride channel regulator, calcium-activated-1) has been linked to diseases with mucus overproduction, including asthma and cystic fibrosis. In the intestine Clca1 is found in the mucus with an abundance and expression pattern similar to Muc2, the major structural mucus component. We hypothesized that Clca1 is required for the synthesis, structu...

A mucus layer covers and protects the intestinal epithelial cells from direct contact with microbes. This mucus layer not only prevents inflammation but also plays an essential role in microbiota colonization, indicating the complex interplay between mucus composition-microbiota and intestinal health. However, it is unknown whether the mucus layer is influenced by age or sex and whether this co...

Several taxa of pulmonate land snails exhibit a conspicuous mating behaviour, the shooting of so-called love darts. During mating, such land snail species stab a mating partner with a mucus-coated dart. It has previously been shown that the sperm donor physiologically influences the sperm recipient via the mucus covering the dart and thereby decreases the number of sperm digested by the recipie...

An in vitro mucus assay was developed to study the role of mucus gel and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) in preventing attachment of Campylobacter jejuni to INT 407 cells. An overlay of rabbit small intestinal mucus was found to impede the attachment of C. jejuni to a monolayer of INT 407 cells. Mucus from rabbits previously colonized with C. jejuni was found to completely inhibit bacterial a...

The antibacterial activity present in the s k ~ n mucus of turbot Scophthalmus maximus, seabream Sparus aurdtd and seabass Dicentrarchus labrdx against Pasteul-ella piscicida and Flex~bacter maritimus was evaluated. Using assays on agar plates, none of the mucus samples from the above fish showed any antibacterial activity against E maritimus isolates. Turbot mucus inhibited the growth of the P...