A One Health project for pandemic prevention
While viral tropism is often studied through virus–receptor interactions at the cell surface, ONEMUC focuses on the mucus layer as the first host interface encountered by inhaled viruses and environmental particles. The project will systematically collect and analyze mucus from humans and key animal hosts, including wild birds, pigs and chicken, and characterize its biochemical and biophysical properties such as glycan composition, viscosity and mesh size. By comparing highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses such as H5N1 with human-adapted seasonal strains including H1N1 and H3N2, ONEMUC aims to determine how mucus affects viral attachment, penetration, stability, host adaptation and transmission risk. The project will also examine how environmental factors such as pollen, dust, air pollution and climate-related changes may compromise mucus barrier function, with the long-term goal of identifying risk factors for elevated infection risk and developing a test platform to assess virus–mucus interaction in emerging outbreaks.
