The goals of this project is to examine the structures of mucus and associated glycans in the respiratory tract, and to examine their effects on influenza viruses. We also seek to reveal changes in mucus components and mucosal surface fluids at different times after influenza infection. Mucus expression and composition clearly influence the infection and spread of influenza viruses, and mucus is generally thought of as a physical and receptor-decoy-laden barrier to mucosal virus infection of host cells. However, it provides the normal environment for infection, and likely facilitates both infection and shedding of host-adapted viruses. Despite the key roles of mucus in normal physiology and disease protection, we lack a clear understanding of how mucus components influence key aspects of the infection or shedding of viruses at the main mucosal surfaces.

Here we will use various approaches to provide new insights into how the composition and structures of mucus in the respiratory tract influence influenza virus infection and, in turn, how viral infection changes mucus production and composition, which may alter shedding and transmission.