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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Mol Med. 2021 Jan 4;27(5):436–450. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2020.12.001

Figure 2: Particle Mobility in Mucus.

Figure 2:

Multiple Particle Tracking (MPT) is used to understand particle mobility in mucus by tracking and quantifying particle trajectory through a biological sample. Conventional particles (CPs) interact with charged and hydrophobic regions of mucin proteins, resulting in physical entrapment. Mucus penetrating particles (MPPs) are coated to avoid adhesive interactions with mucus, allowing for unrestricted Brownian motion through the mucus mesh, but can still be trapped via steric hindrance. Using MPT to track multiple sizes of MPPs allows for characterization of the size and distribution of pores in the mucus mesh. Additionally, quantitative results from MPT can be correlated with particle distribution in vivo.