On Harvesting and Handling of Porcine Jejunal Mucus: A Few Tricks of the Trade

Abstract

As a heterogeneous hydrogel, mucus has evolved into a formidable physiological barrier protecting the human body from external pathogens and toxic molecules. With mucin as its primary solid component, the viscoelasticity of mucus remains dynamic and dependent upon a plethora of factors, including pathological state, food intake, and infection. Current nanomedicine research strives toward developing nanoformulations that can permeate through the mucus barrier and release the encapsulated cargo of drug molecules at the vicinity of epithelial lining or be directly absorbed into the bloodstream. However, it is difficult to mimic mucus in vitro while the ex vivo models remain inadequate or incompatible with many established microscopic platforms. The UCD School of Veterinary Medicine has a rich legacy of working with porcine gut mucus as an experimental model, while some interesting and innovative ideas were developed by researchers here to address these challenges. This article presents a snapshot of those ideas and life hacks that the author wishes to share with the nanomedicine research community.

Keywords: Drug delivery; Encapsulation; Hydrogel; Mucus; Nanomedicine; Physiological barrier.