Mucins play an integral role in ocular surface health. They are the secret ingredient that gives the aqueous its viscosity and moisturizing properties. They entrap pathogens in the tear film to protect the eye. And they provide the glycocalyx anchor that keeps the tear film residing on the ocular surface. In this episode, Anna Tichenor, OD, PhD, of Indiana University explains all this and more in the no-nonsense terms you’d expect from a Midwesterner.

There are two types of mucin: free-floating and membrane-bound. The former are secreted by conjunctival goblet cells into the tear film, where they scavenge for bacteria and pollen while also providing the hydration properties of the tears. Membrane mucins, by contrast, arise from corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells and produce the glycocalyx, “kind of a shag carpet” on the ocular surfac ...