Cystic fibrosis alters the structure of mucus in airways
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 - 10:32
in Health & Medicine
Cystic fibrosis (CF) alters the structure of mucus produced in airway passages. In pigs affected by CF, mucus strands (made of MUC5B protein) are more tangled than normal, and the sheets of mucus (made of MUC5AC protein) that cover the strands are denser. These structural abnormalities may help explain why people with CF have difficulty clearing mucus from their lungs.