Synthetic Mucin Gels with Self-Healing Properties Augment Lubricity and Inhibit HIV-1 and HSV-2 Transmission

• Mucus is a self-healing gel that lubricates the moist epithelium and provides protection against viruses by binding to viruses smaller than the gel's mesh size and removing them from the mucosal surface by active mucus turnover. As the primary nonaqueous components of mucus (≈0.2%–5%, wt/v), mucins are critical to this function because the dense arrangement of mucin glycans allows multivalence of binding. Following nature's example, bovine submaxillary mucins (BSMs) are assembled into “mucus-like” gels (5%, wt/v) by dynamic covalent crosslinking reactions. The gels exhibit transient liquefaction under high shear strain and immediate self-healing behavior. This study shows that these material properties are essential to provide lubricity. The gels efficiently reduce human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and genital herpes virus type 2 (HSV-2) infectivity for various types of cells. In contrast, simple mucin solutions, which lack the structural makeup, inhibit HIV-1 significantly less and do not inhibit HSV-2. Mechanistically, the prophylaxis of HIV-1 infection by BSM gels is found to be that the gels trap HIV-1 by binding to the envelope glycoprotein gp120 and suppress cytokine production during viral exposure. Therefore, the authors believe the gels are promising for further development as personal lubricants that can limit viral transmission. © 2022 The Authors. 

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Microbiology in the medical area (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

HIV-1

HSV-2

immune suppression

lubricant

mucin hydrogels

self-healing

strain-weakening

Crosslinking

Diseases

Gels

Hydrogels

Mammals

Self-healing materials

Shear strain

Sols

Herpes virus type 2

Human immunodeficiency virus

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Mesh size

Mucin hydrogel

Mucosal surface

Self-healing properties

Viruses

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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