Hydrodynamic model of directional ciliary-beat organization in human airways.

ABSTRACT: In the lung, the airway surface is protected by mucus, whose transport and evacuation is ensured through active ciliary beating. The mechanisms governing the long-range directional organization of ciliary beats, required for effective mucus transport, are much debated. Here, we experimentally show on human bronchial epithelium reconstituted in-vitro that the dynamics of ciliary-beat orientation is closely connected to hydrodynamic effects. To examine the fundamental mechanisms of this self-organization process, we build a two-dimensional model in which the hydrodynamic coupling between cilia is provided by a streamwise-alignment rule governing the local orientation of the ciliary forcing. The model reproduces the emergence of the mucus swirls observed in the experiments. The predicted swir

SUBMITTER: Gsell S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7242329 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature