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Updated: Dec 8, 2025

Three-dimensional Quantification of Intestinal Mucus Using Whole-mount Tissue Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2025
Mucus is more than just a physical barrier for trapping oral microorganisms
1Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
Mucus is thought to serve as a protective coating on wet epithelial surfaces. Recent research has shown that glycans, which are branched sugar molecules found in mucin, a part of mucus, can prevent bacteria from communicating with each other and forming biofilms. This could hinder microbes from causing infections. The present editorial, focusing on a paper by Wheeler et al. [1], published in October 2019 in Nature Microbiology, describes how mucus can attenuate the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, streptococci and Candida albicans can be 'tamed' by mucin.
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