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A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue .
Mucus (/ ˈ m j uː k ə s /, MEW-kəs) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands , although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both serous and mucous cells.
The mucous membrane is thickest, and most vascular, over the nasal conchae. It is also thick over the nasal septum where increased numbers of goblet cells produce a greater amount of nasal mucus. It is very thin in the meatuses on the floor of the nasal cavities, and in the various sinuses. It is one of the most commonly infected tissues in ...
As its Latin name indicates, it is a characteristic component of the mucosa, or the mucosa's "own special layer." Thus, the term mucosa or mucous membrane refers to the combination of the epithelium and the lamina propria. [1] The connective tissue of the lamina propria is loose and rich in cells.
Goblet cells, so named because they are shaped like a wine goblet, are columnar epithelial cells that contain membrane-bound mucous granules and secrete mucus as part of the airway surface liquid (ASL), also known as the epithelial lining fluid, the composition of which is tightly regulated; the mucus helps maintain epithelial moisture and ...
"Normal healthy mucus travels in a pattern from the front of the nose to the throat by a special way called mucus transport (mucociliary transport), through tiny hairs pushing it along the nose ...
A serous membrane is an epithelial membrane composed of mesodermally derived epithelium called the mesothelium that is supported by connective tissue. [2] These membranes line the coelomic cavities of the body, that is, those cavities that do not open to the outside, and they cover the organs located within those cavities.
Hemidesmosomes resemble desmosomes on a section. They are made up of the integrin (a transmembrane protein) instead of cadherin. They attach the epithelial cell to the basement membrane. Gap junctions connect the cytoplasm of two cells and are made up of proteins called connexins (six of which come together to make a connexion). [citation needed]