Taherzadeh Rameen, Wood Nathan, Pei Zhijian, Qin Hongmin
Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA.
Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University, 3127 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2025 Apr 17;10(4):247. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics10040247.
Airway mucus plays a critical role in respiratory health, with diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF) being characterized by mucus that exhibits increased viscosity and altered viscoelasticity. In vitro models that emulate these properties are essential for understanding the impact of CF mucus on airway function and for the development of therapeutic strategies. This study characterizes a mucus mimic composed of xanthan gum and locust bean gum, which is designed to exhibit the rheological properties of CF mucus. Mucus concentrations ranging from 0.07% to 0.3% / were tested to simulate different states of bacterial infection in CF. Key rheological parameters, including yield stress, storage modulus, loss modulus, and viscosity, were measured using an HR2 rheometer with strain sweep, oscillation frequency, and flow ramp tests. The results show that increasing the concentration enhanced the mimic's elasticity and yield stress, with values aligning with those reported for CF mucus in pathological states. These findings provide a quantitative framework for tuning the rheological properties of mucus in vitro, allowing for the simulation of CF mucus across a range of concentrations. This mucus mimic is cost-effective, readily cross-linked, and provides a foundation for future studies examining the mechanobiological effects of mucus yield stress on epithelial cell layers, particularly in the context of bacterial infections and airway disease modeling.
气道黏液在呼吸健康中起着关键作用，诸如囊性纤维化（CF）等疾病的特征是黏液的黏度增加且黏弹性改变。模拟这些特性的体外模型对于理解CF黏液对气道功能的影响以及开发治疗策略至关重要。本研究对一种由黄原胶和刺槐豆胶组成的黏液模拟物进行了表征，该模拟物旨在展现CF黏液的流变学特性。测试了浓度范围为0.07%至0.3%的黏液以模拟CF中不同的细菌感染状态。使用配备应变扫描、振荡频率和流动斜坡测试的HR2流变仪测量了关键的流变学参数，包括屈服应力、储能模量、损耗模量和黏度。结果表明，增加浓度可增强模拟物的弹性和屈服应力，其值与病理状态下CF黏液的报道值相符。这些发现为体外调节黏液的流变学特性提供了一个定量框架，从而能够在一系列浓度范围内模拟CF黏液。这种黏液模拟物具有成本效益，易于交联，并为未来研究黏液屈服应力对上皮细胞层的力学生物学效应奠定了基础，特别是在细菌感染和气道疾病建模的背景下。
