The layer of the tear film in contact with the conjunctiva is mucus. This mucus comes from two sources, the conjunctival goblet cells and the subsurface vesicles. These vesicles are found just below the surface of the conjunctival cells. They contain long chain mucus glycoprotein molecules that are joined to the vesicle membrane. The vesicles fuse with the surface membrane of the conjunctival c...

Recent studies demonstrate that mechanisms underlying gut barrier failure include systemic processes and less studied luminal processes. We thus tested the hypothesis that mucus layer oxidation is a component of trauma/hemorrhagic shock-induced gut injury and dysfunction. Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent trauma/hemorrhagic shock. Controls underwent trauma only. Mucus from the terminal 30 cm o...

Swine influenza virus (SIV) has a strong tropism for pig respiratory mucosa, which consists of a mucus layer, epithelium, basement membrane and lamina propria. Sialic acids present on the epithelial surface have long been considered to be determinants of influenza virus tropism. However, mucus which is also rich in sialic acids may serve as the first barrier of selection. It was investigated ho...

Mucociliary clearance and cough are the two main natural mucus draining methods in the bronchial tree. If they are affected by a pathology, they can become insufficient or even ineffective, then therapeutic draining of mucus plays a critical role to keep mucus levels in the lungs acceptable. The manipulations of physical therapists are known to be very efficient clinically but they are mostly e...

The in vivo rabbit ileum was used to study the relationship of cholera enterotoxin-induced water and electrolyte secretion and mucus secretion and to determine whether the enterotoxin influenced the intestinal mucus blanket. In experiments in which luminal fluid viscosity was used to assess mucus secretion, it was found that while cholera enterotoxin induced a sustained secretion of water and e...

We studied the effects of substances P administration on tracheal mucus viscoelasticity, water content, clearability and secretion rate. Six neutered adult male ferrets (weight 1.1-1.5 kg) were studied, on four occasions each. They were anaesthetized with ketamine and xylazine, and intubated shallowly. Control mucus (pre- and post-Ringer instillation) was compared with the mucus obtained follow...

A histochemical study using conventional carbohydrate histochemistry (periodic-acid staining including diastase controls, alcian blue staining at pH 1 and 2.5) as well as using a battery of 14 fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled lectins to identify glycoconjugates present in 10 different areas of the skin of a catfish (Arius tenuispinis) was carried out. The lectins used were: mannose-bi...

Most airway mucus is produced by submucosal glands in response to neural signals. Gland mucus traps microbes, inhibits their replication, and clears them from the airways. In cystic fibrosis mucus clearance is compromised, allowing pathogens to persist in static mucus. These trigger an influx of inflammatory cells, but optimal effectiveness of inflammation, and especially its resolution, also r...

BACKGROUND Ascending infection from the colonized vagina to the normally sterile intrauterine cavity is a well-documented cause of preterm birth. The primary physical barrier to microbial ascension is the cervical canal, which is filled with a dense and protective mucus plug. Despite its central role in separating the vaginal from the intrauterine tract, the barrier properties of cervical mucus...

Bacteriophages (phages) defend mucosal surfaces against bacterial infections. However, their complex interactions with their bacterial hosts and with the mucus-covered epithelium remain mostly unexplored. Our previous work demonstrated that T4 phage with Hoc proteins exposed on their capsid adhered to mucin glycoproteins and protected mucus-producing tissue culture cells in vitro. On this basis...