The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
UV (365 nm) photo-crosslinking of lipoic-acid–functionalized porcine gastric and bovine submaxillary mucins rapidly forms disulfide networks, enabling 2–3% hydrogels that suppress SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Why it matters: Native mucus barrier function depends on disulfide-linked mucin networks, but available mucins and mucus mimetics often fail to match mechanics and transport behavior without adding potentially disruptive crosslinkers.
- What they did: Porcine gastric and bovine submaxillary mucins were functionalized with lipoic acid and then irradiated at 365 nm to form single-component hydrogels without added photo-initiator or polymeric crosslinkers, with gelation 2 orders of magnitude faster than PEG-SH approaches.
- The result: Crosslinked MUC-LA hydrogels show tunable viscoelasticity (G' ≈ 10–20 Pa), redox responsiveness, self-healing, and size-dependent nanoparticle transport, and in transwell infection models they suppress epithelial infection by SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A, with greater SARS-CoV-2 protection than non-crosslinked gels.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
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