Corneal mucin is integral to the health of epithelial tissues in the eye, potentially performing multiple tribological roles. Mucins are glycosylated proteins, a diverse class of biological macromolecules that  are generally thought to regulate the tribological and rheological characteristics of epithelial surfaces. Mucin concentration in the tear film is continually modulated by changing environmental conditions, living cell mucin production, and potential passive processes such as degradation or wear. We therefore seek to understand the relationship between the spatiotemporal distribution of mucin and its connection to tribological performance at epithelial surfaces. In this presentation, we will describe a method for measuring the growth of mucin layers secreted by living cell monolayers while performing time-lapse confocal fluorescence microscopy. We develop an analysis method for measuring the changing thickness of a mucin layer over time, produced by a human corneal epithelial cell monolayer, finding a non-monotonically growing thickness profile. Additionally, spatially resolved measurements show that the mucin layer is very heterogeneous, composed of mucin clusters. By analyzing the make-up of these clusters, we find intra-cluster variations in the density of different types of mucin (MUC1, MUC4 and MUC16). We combine these observations with the results from tribological testing to begin to understand the relative importance of mucin's different potential functions such as reduction in friction and wear or as a barrier to pathogens.<br/>

What does mucin do for the cornea? <i>In vitro</i> measurements of mucin structure on an epithelial monolayer

255th National Meeting (2018)

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What does mucin do for the cornea? In vitro measurements of mucin structure on an epithelial monolayer