Ask A Scientist© Molecular Biology Archive

 >   name        Katarina
 >   status      student
 >   age         20s

 >   Question -
 >what is pus made of? is it made of immune cells? what is mucous made of
 >and is its only function lubrication? does mucous also contain immune cells?



>Pus is a combination of dead bacteria and dead white blood cells.  The
>greenish-white color is the dead white blood cells.  Mucous is a lubricating
>material found on mucous membranes and produced in mucous-producing goblet
>cells.  To be honest, I'm not quite sure what the chemical make-up of mucous
>is.  The mucous doesn't contain immune cells in itself, but once it takes up
>residence on the mucous membranes it gets mixed with many other substances
>and immune cells are probably mixed in with them at that point.


Van Hoeck

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