Abstract
We describe an original method to measure mucus microrheology on human bronchial epithelium culture using optical tweezers. We probed rheology on the whole thickness of mucus above the epithelium and showed that mucus gradually varies in rheological response, from an elastic behavior close to the epithelium to a viscous one far away. Microrheology was also performed on mucus collected on the culture, on ex vivo mucus collected by bronchoscopy, and on another epithelium model. Differences are discussed and are related to mucus heterogeneity, adhesiveness and collection method.
Highlights
The mucociliary function of bronchial epithelia ensures the continuous clearance of the airways
To measure the microrheology response within the mucus layer lying on top of cultured human bronchial epithelium (HBE) and probe its variation with the distance to the epithelium, we developed a new protocol and adjusted our setup
Rheology can be measured at different distances from the epithelium by selecting beads at different heights in the mucus layer or by entraining a given bead from the bottom to the top
Summary
The mucociliary function of bronchial epithelia ensures the continuous clearance of the airways. Models of human bronchial epithelium (HBE) culture have been developed these last decades [2,3,4,5] While these models have been validated by biological factors demonstrating, for various pathologies, that the phenotype is conserved, a few studies [6,7,8] describe the physical characteristics of these models and in particular the mucus flowing properties. Microrheological studies have been reported on horse airway mucus [9, 10], marine worm mucus [11], porcine respiratory mucus [1], and even human respiratory mucus [6, 12], using either active or passive methods
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