Lung disease in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) is initiated by defective host defense that predisposes airways to bacterial infection. Advanced CF is characterized by a deficit in mucociliary transport (MCT), a process that traps and propels bacteria out of the lungs, but whether this deficit occurs first or is secondary to airway remodeling has been unclear. To assess MCT, we tracked movement of radiodense microdisks in airways of newborn piglets with CF. Cholinergic stimulation, which elicits mucus secretion, substantially reduced microdisk movement. Impaired MCT was not due to periciliary liquid depletion; rather, CF submucosal glands secreted mucus strands that remained tethered to gland ducts. Inhibiting anion secretion in non-CF airways replicated CF abnormalities. Thus, impaired MCT is a primary defect in CF, suggesting that submucosal glands and tethered mucus may be targets for early CF treatment.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 62. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 31 March 2026.
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#860,227
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Outputs of similar age from Science
#191
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Altmetric has tracked 34,159,433 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 93,796 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 65.8. This one has done well, scoring higher than 81% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 889 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its contemporaries.
