Food-associated stimuli enhance barrier properties of mucus

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20005061

Mucus, a complex network consisting of micro- and 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 barrier to particulate, pathogen, and small molecule transport (e.g., nutrient, toxin) to epithelial surfaces. It is important to understand mucus barrier properties as they are significant to drug delivery and potentially disease. The main objective of this project was to examine the impact of physicochemical changes occurring upon food ingestion on gastrointestinal (GI) mucus barrier properties. The motivation for studying these phenomena includes understanding how drug delivery and microbe transport through mucus may change upon food exposure, and how these effects may be exploited to enable more efficient drug delivery or block pathogen transport.