Engineering the Mucus Barrier

Mucus selectively controls the transport of molecules, particulate matter, and microorganisms to the underlying epithelial layer. It may be desirable to weaken the mucus barrier to enable effective delivery of drug carriers. Alternatively, the mucus barrier can be strengthened to prevent epithelial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of biomedical engineering 2018-06, Vol.20 (1), p.197-220
Main Authors: Carlson, T.L, Lock, J.Y, Carrier, R.L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
mucoadhesive particles
mucolytic
mucosal drug delivery
mucus barrier
mucus composition
mucus penetration
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Summary:Mucus selectively controls the transport of molecules, particulate matter, and microorganisms to the underlying epithelial layer. It may be desirable to weaken the mucus barrier to enable effective delivery of drug carriers. Alternatively, the mucus barrier can be strengthened to prevent epithelial interaction with pathogenic microbes or other exogenous materials. The dynamic mucus layer can undergo changes in structure (e.g., pore size) and or composition (e.g., protein concentrations, mucin glycosylation) in response to stimuli that occur naturally or are purposely administered, thus altering its barrier function. This review outlines mechanisms by which mucus provides a selective barrier and methods to engineer the mucus layer from the perspective of strengthening or weakening its barrier properties. In addition, we discuss strategic design of drug carriers and dosing formulation properties for efficient delivery across the mucus barrier.
ISSN:1523-9829
1545-4274
DOI:10.1146/annurev-bioeng-062117-121156