ABSTRACT

Mucus is thought to serve as a protective coating on wet epithelial surfaces. Recent research has shown that glycans, which are branched sugar molecules found in mucin, a part of mucus, can prevent bacteria from communicating with each other and forming biofilms. This could hinder microbes from causing infections. The present editorial, focusing on a paper by Wheeler et al. [1], published in October 2019 in Nature Microbiology, describes how mucus can attenuate the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, streptococci and Candida albicans can be ‘tamed’ by mucin.

中文翻译：

---

粘液不仅是捕获口腔微生物的物理屏障。

摘要

粘液被认为是在湿的上皮表面上的保护涂层。最近的研究表明，聚糖是粘液（粘液的一部分）中发现的分支糖分子，可以防止细菌相互交流并形成生物膜。这可能会阻止微生物引起感染。本社论着重于惠勒等人的论文。[1]于2019年10月发表在《自然微生物学》上，描述了粘液如何减轻铜绿假单胞菌的毒力。另外，粘蛋白可以“驯服”链球菌和白色念珠菌。