mucus

If there's one thing that the past few years have made us of aware of, it's the danger of respiratory viruses. An inhalable powder may one day help temporarily protect against them, by working with the natural layer of mucus in users' lungs.Our respiratory system is lined with a mucus-secreting membrane which continuously traps inhaled particles such as pollen, smoke and – to a certain extent – viruses and bacteria. These items are subsequently removed from the airways as the mucus is either swallowed or coughed…

MIT researchers have identified components of mucus that can block cholera infections by interfering with the genes that cause the microbe to switch into a harmful state.Utilizing these protective molecules could potentially provide a new approach to managing the illness, which is transmitted through contaminated water.Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered molecules present in mucus that have the ability to impede cholera infection by disrupting the genes responsible for the…

Photo: ShutterstockNew research appears to provide a clearer picture of why cold and flu cases are more common during the winter. The study found evidence that our nose’s innate immune response weakens in colder temperatures, providing some germs a better opportunity to infect the rest of the body. The findings, the authors say, could provide a biological explanation for the seasonality of many respiratory diseases.The study comes from scientists at Northeastern University as well as Mass Eye and Ear, a teaching hospital…

Technology that delivers insulin orally rather than via regular injections would be a game-changing advance in medical science, and MIT scientists have been working fervently toward this aim over many years. Their latest creation is a drug capsule that uses a robotic, tunneling head to burrow its way through the mucus in the small intestine, giving insulin a direct route to cells.The difficulty in orally administering large protein drugs like insulin is tied to the inhospitable environment in the digestive tract.…

The animal kingdom is practically dripping in mucus.Amphibians, snails, and slugs are among the more famous masters of mucus, but even the loneliest microorganism can ooze a viscous slime from time to time.In our own species, mucus is produced in the mouth, the nose, the throat, the lungs, the gut, the cervix, and the urinary tract, all for a variety of purposes.Yet the origin of the world's slime is a mystery.Despite the many similarities between mucuses, many forms have evolved in parallel and not in a branching,…

Sponges are among the oldest creatures on Earth and play an essential role in many underwater ecosystems. New research finds that sponges ‘sneeze’ to clear their water channels. With each sneeze, the sponge releases a type of mucus that is eaten by other animals.The study was conducted by Niklas Kornder of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and colleagues, the results were published today (August 10, 2022) in the scientific journal Current Biology.Fossil evidence shows sponges date back over 650 million years ago, making…

Sea sponges, among the oldest creatures in existence, let out what looks like a deep sea "sneeze" to filter out waste, researchers found in a new study.Using time-lapse video, researchers captured the behavior, which could help them better understand how sponges evolved.   "Our data suggest that sneezing is an adaptation that sponges evolved to keep themselves clean," Jasper de Goeij, a marine biologist at the University of Amsterdam and author of the new paper, said in a press…

The more infectious form of the yeast Candida albicans is a long filament (shown on the left). MIT researchers have demonstrated that when the yeast is grown in the presence of mucin glycans, it remains in its round, harmless form (shown on the right). Credit: Julie Takagi. Colorized by MIT NewsHarnessing the strength of specialized sugar molecules found in mucus could help researchers develop new antifungal drugs.Candida albicans is a yeast that often lives in the human digestive tract and mouth, as well as urinary and…

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