Daunter B
Scan Electron Microsc. 1984(Pt 1):343-58.
Human cervical mucus is composed of an insoluble polymer of glycoproteins (mucin) which forms a matrix in which the aqueous phase is dispersed. Both the mucin and the aqueous phase are considered to be of importance to the structural integrity and function of cervical mucus. The mucin is considered to be composed of coiled glycoprotein molecules. These molecules may then associate by the chelation of divalent copper, via the carboxylic acid groups of the terminal sialic acid moieties of the carbohydrate side chains, to form the mucin per se. The modulation of the mucin structure at midcycle may then be achieved by the reduction of the copper bound to the sialic acid, by the oxidation of L-ascorbic acid: the L-ascorbic acid becoming oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid. This will result in an increase in hydration of the mucin by the association of water molecules with the uncomplexed sialic acid molecules of the glycoproteins. Thus the biophysical changes of cervical mucus may occur without enzymatically induced biochemical reactions. The proposed biochemical structure of cervical mucus is in accordance with the honeycomb-like structure of cervical mucin viewed by scanning electron microscopy. Whether or not the mucin exists precisely in this form in vivo is debatable. However, the honeycomb-like structure provides a convenient model on which one may investigate the biochemical, physiological and pathological nature of cervical mucus.
人类宫颈黏液由糖蛋白（黏蛋白）的不溶性聚合物组成，该聚合物形成一种基质，水相分散于其中。黏蛋白和水相对宫颈黏液的结构完整性和功能均被认为很重要。黏蛋白被认为由盘绕的糖蛋白分子组成。这些分子然后可能通过二价铜的螯合作用，经由碳水化合物侧链末端唾液酸部分的羧酸基团，缔合形成黏蛋白本身。月经周期中期黏蛋白结构的调节随后可通过与唾液酸结合的铜的还原作用实现，这是由L - 抗坏血酸的氧化引起的：L - 抗坏血酸被氧化为脱氢抗坏血酸。这将导致黏蛋白水合作用增加，因为水分子与糖蛋白未络合的唾液酸分子缔合。因此，宫颈黏液的生物物理变化可能在没有酶促生化反应的情况下发生。所提出的宫颈黏液生化结构与通过扫描电子显微镜观察到的宫颈黏蛋白的蜂窝状结构一致。黏蛋白在体内是否精确以这种形式存在尚有争议。然而，蜂窝状结构提供了一个方便的模型，人们可以在此基础上研究宫颈黏液的生化、生理和病理性质。
