We review what is currently understood about how the structure of the primary solid
component of mucus, the glycoprotein mucin, gives rise to the mechanical and biochemical …

Microrheology encompasses a range of methods to measure the mechanical properties of
soft materials. By characterizing the motion of embedded microscopic particles …

Optical trapping and manipulation of objects down to the Ångstrom level has revolutionized
research at the smallest scales in all natural sciences. The flexibility of optical trapping …

Over the past few decades, microrheology has emerged as a widely used technique to
measure the mechanical properties of soft viscoelastic materials. Optical tweezers offer a …

We use optical tweezers microrheology and fluorescence microscopy to characterize the
nonlinear mesoscale mechanics and mobility of in vitro co-entangled actin-microtubule …

Mucus plays crucial roles in higher organisms, from aiding fertilization to protecting the
female reproductive tract. Here, we investigate how anisotropic organization of mucus …

Since their first appearance in the 1970s, optical tweezers have been successfully exploited
for a variety of applications throughout the natural sciences, revolutionising the field of …

Optical tweezers were developed in 1970 by Arthur Ashkin as a tool for the manipulation of
micron‐sized particles. Ashkin's original design was then adapted for a variety of purposes …

Blends of polymers of different topologies, such as ring and supercoiled, naturally occur in
biology and often exhibit emergent viscoelastic properties coveted in industry. However, due …

Mucus is a viscoelastic gel secreted by the pulmonary epithelium in the tracheobronchial
region of the lungs. The coordinated beating of cilia moves mucus upwards towards the …