ArticleBiomacromolecules2013
The microstructure and bulk rheology of human cervicovaginal mucus are remarkably resistant to changes in pH.
Article in Biomacromolecules, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental factors drive bacterial degradation of gastrointestinal mucus.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- The Known and Unknown About Female Reproductive Tract Mucus Rheological Properties.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Hydrogels for Mucosal Drug Delivery.ACS applied bio materials · 2023Review
- Modulation of vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) by Gelam honey in bilateral oophorectomized rats.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Mucus from human bronchial epithelial cultures: rheology and adhesion across length scales.Interface focus · 2022Article
- Physiology and pathophysiology of human airway mucus.Physiological reviews · 2022Review
- Passive and Active Microrheology for Biomedical Systems.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Review
- Acupuncture for Female Infertility: Discussion on Action Mechanism and Application.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Vaginal, Cervical and Uterine pH in Women with Normal and Abnormal Vaginal Microbiota.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- The Cervicovaginal Mucus Barrier.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- LPS-binding IgG arrests actively motile Salmonella Typhimurium in gastrointestinal mucus.Mucosal immunology · 2020Article
- Metal particles in mucus and hypertrophic tissue of the inferior nasal turbinates from the human upper respiratory tract.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Article
- The cervicovaginal mucus barrier to HIV-1 is diminished in bacterial vaginosis.PLoS pathogens · 2020Article
- Nanoparticle diffusion in spontaneously expectorated sputum as a biophysical tool to probe disease severity in COPD.The European respiratory journal · 2019Article
- Development of a mucoinert progesterone nanosuspension for safer and more effective prevention of preterm birth.Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society · 2019Article
- Pathological mucus and impaired mucus clearance in cystic fibrosis patients result from increased concentration, not altered pH.The European respiratory journal · 2018Article
- Mucins and Their Role in Shaping the Functions of Mucus Barriers.Annual review of cell and developmental biology · 2018Review
- A Rheological Study of the Association and Dynamics of MUC5AC Gels.Biomacromolecules · 2017Article
- Probing the potential of mucus permeability to signify preterm birth risk.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Ex-Vivo Force Spectroscopy of Intestinal Mucosa Reveals the Mechanical Properties of Mucus Blankets.Scientific reports · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The protective barrier, lubricant, and clearance functions of mucus are intimately coupled to its microstructure and bulk rheology. Mucus gels consist of a network of mucin biopolymers along with lipids, salts, and other proteins and exhibit similar biochemical and physical properties across diverse mucosal surfaces. Nevertheless, mucus is exposed to a broad range of pH values throughout the human body. Protein functions are typically sensitive to small changes in pH, and prior investigations using reconstituted, purified mucin gels suggested mucus undergoes a transition from a low-viscosity liquid at neutral pH to a highly viscoelastic solid at low pH. We sought to determine whether those observations hold for fresh, minimally perturbed human mucus ex vivo by using different-sized muco-inert nanoparticles to probe microstructure and cone-and-plate rheometry to measure bulk rheology. We demonstrate that both the microstructure and bulk rheology of fresh, undiluted, and minimally perturbed cervicovaginal mucus exhibit relatively minor changes from pH 1-2 to 8-9, in marked contrast with the pH sensitivity of purified mucin gels. Our work also suggests additional components in mucus secretions, typically eliminated during mucin purification and reconstitution, may play an important role in maintaining the protective properties of mucus.
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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.