Mucus Microrheology Measured on Human Bronchial Epithelium Culture

Myriam Jory (1) , Karim Bellouma (1) , Christophe Blanc (1) , Laura Casanellas Vilageliu (1) , Aurelie Petit (2) , Paul Reynaud (2) , Charlotte Vernisse (2) , Isabelle Vachier (2) , Arnaud Bourdin (2) , Gladys Massiera (1)

1 L2C - Laboratoire Charles Coulomb
2 PhyMedExp - Physiologie & médecine expérimentale du Cœur et des Muscles [U 1046]

We describe an original method to measure mucus microrheology on human bronchial epithelium culture using optical tweezers. We probed rheology on the whole thickness of mucus above the epithelium and showed that mucus gradually varies in rheological response, from an elastic behavior close to the epithelium to a viscous one far away. Microrheology was also performed on mucus collected on the culture, on ex vivo mucus collected by bronchoscopy, and on another epithelium model. Differences are discussed and are related to mucus heterogeneity, adhesiveness and collection method.

Mots clés: biopolymer gels; rheology; mucins; optical tweezers (OT); viscoelasticity; mucus; microrheology; human bronchial epithelium (HBE)

Domaines: Biophysique [physics.bio-ph]; Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Myriam Jory, Karim Bellouma, Christophe Blanc, Laura Casanellas Vilageliu, Aurelie Petit, et al.. Mucus Microrheology Measured on Human Bronchial Epithelium Culture. Frontiers in Physics, 2019, 7, pp.19. ⟨10.3389/fphy.2019.00019⟩. ⟨hal-02025486⟩