ArticleBiomaterials2013
Nanoparticle diffusion in respiratory mucus from humans without lung disease.
Article in Biomaterials, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 183 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
183 citing papers in PubMed, 447 citations in OpenAlex.
- Micro/nanoscale bubble-mediated mucolytic conditioning of the lung model of cystic fibrosis enhances nanoparticle transport through the mucus.Biomaterials · 2026Article
- Recent Advances in Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Mucosal Delivery of Nucleic Acids.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- An Inverse Transwell Assay for Airway Mucus Barrier Function Reveals both Virus- and Mucin-Specific Impacts on Infection.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Induction of mucosal immune responses against SARS-CoV-2: a heterologous intramuscular mRNA-LNP prime/pulmonary recombinant subunit pull vaccination strategy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Recent advances in the application of polymeric nanoparticles to the pulmonary delivery of mRNA.Nanomedicine (London, England) · 2026Review
- mRNA Delivery by Lipoamino Fatty Acid-Peptide Polyplexes in Different Lung Cell Models and Lungs.Polymers · 2026Article
- RNA-Loaded Nanoparticles for Targeted Lung Delivery.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Lessons learned from allergen adsorption on engineered nanomaterials: bridging experimental insights and computational technologies.Nanomedicine (London, England) · 2026Review
- Nanoparticles reveal permanent and reversible changes to lymph node biomechanics during inflammatory response.Biomaterials · 2026Article
- In Vitro Evaluation of the Effect of Size and PEGylation on Inhalable Liposomes for Pulmonary Drug Delivery.Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Novel Wide-Spectrum Virucidal Lipid Nanoparticles.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Inhalation-Based Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Targeting the Diseased Lower Airways in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Zirconium-Doped Ceria Oxide Nanozymes Alleviate Allergic Rhinitis by Attenuating Oxidative Stress and Stabilizing Mast Cells.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Article
- From Pharmacological Uncertainty to Inhalation Development: An Evidence-Gated Roadmap forDrug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Preliminary evaluation of a DDA cationic liposome-based pulmonary mucosal immunization platform carrying a SARS-CoV-2 spike-derived branched peptide.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Advancing Lung Cancer Treatment: mRNA Therapeutics and Delivery Strategies.Nano letters · 2025Review
- Carbon Dots with Tunable Charge as Mucus-Penetrating Gene Carriers.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
- Combined Effect of Size and Charge on the Interaction of Nanoparticles with Mucus-Mimicking Mucin Hydrogels.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Comparative characterization of bronchial and nasal mucus reveals key determinants of influenza A virus inhibition.mSphere · 2025Article
123 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
A major role of respiratory mucus is to trap inhaled particles, including pathogens and environmental particulates, to limit body exposure. Despite the tremendous health implications, how particle size and surface chemistry affect mobility in respiratory mucus from humans without lung disease is not known. We prepared polymeric nanoparticles densely coated with low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG) to minimize muco-adhesion, and compared their transport to that of uncoated particles in human respiratory mucus, which we collected from the endotracheal tubes of surgical patients with no respiratory comorbidities. We found that 100 and 200 nm diameter PEG-coated particles rapidly penetrated respiratory mucus, at rates exceeding their uncoated counterparts by approximately 15- and 35-fold, respectively. In contrast, PEG-coated particles ≥500 nm in diameter were sterically immobilized by the mucus mesh. Thus, even though respiratory mucus is a viscoelastic solid at the macroscopic level (as measured using a bulk rheometer), nanoparticles that are sufficiently small and muco-inert can penetrate the mucus as if it were primarily a viscous liquid. These findings help elucidate the barrier properties of respiratory mucus and provide design criteria for therapeutic nanoparticles capable of penetrating mucus to approach the underlying airway epithelium.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.