What is Mucous Membranes?

Information about Mucous Membranes

Mucous membrane

LAYERS: serosa longitudinal muscle myenteric plexus circular muscle submucosal plexus submucosal mucosal

Section of the human esophagus. Moderately magnified. The section is transverse and from near the middle of the gullet. a. Fibrous covering. b. Divided fibers of longitudinal muscular coat. c. Transverse muscular fibers. d. Submucous or areolar layer. e. Muscularis mucosae. f. Mucous membrane, with vessels and part of a lymphoid nodule. g. Stratified epithelial lining. h. Mucous gland. i. Gland duct. m’. Striated muscular fibers cut across.
Latin	tunica mucosa
	subject #242 1110
Dorlands/Elsevier	t_22/12831913

The mucous membranes (or mucosae; singular: mucosa) are linings of mostly endodermal origin, covered in epithelium, and are involved in absorption and secretion. They line various body cavities that are exposed to the external environment and internal organs. It is at several places continuous with skin: at the nostrils, the lips, the ears, the genital area, and the anus. The sticky, thick fluid secreted by the mucous membranes and gland is termed mucus. The term mucous membrane refers to where they are found in the body and not every mucous membrane secretes mucus.

Body cavities featuring mucous membrane include most of the respiratory system. The glans penis (head of the penis) and glans clitoridis and the inside of the prepuce (foreskin) and clitoral hood are mucous membranes, not skin.

Components

Epithelium
Lamina propria
Smooth muscle/Muscularis mucosa/ (GI tract)

Types of mucosa (incomplete)

Additional images

Wall of the ureter.

Section of mucous membrane of human stomach, near the cardiac orifice.

External links

mucosa at eMedicine Dictionary
Organology at UC Davis Digestive/mammal/system1/system4 - "Mammal, whole system (LM, Low)"
MeSH Mucous+Membrane

• • [ e] tissue layers
mesothelium, serosa/adventitia, muscularis externa (outer & inner), submucosa, mucosa (muscularis mucosa, lamina propria, epithelium), lumen

In anatomy, a serous membrane, or serosa, is a smooth membrane consisting of a thin layer of cells which excrete a fluid, known as serous fluid. Serous membranes line and enclose several body cavities, known as serous cavities, where they secrete a lubricating fluid which
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The muscular coat (or muscular layer, or muscular fibers, or muscularis propria, or muscularis externa) is a region of muscle in many organs in the vertebrate body, adjacent to the mucous membrane. It is responsible for gut movement such as peristalsis.
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Part of the enteric nervous system, Auerbach's plexus (or myenteric plexus) exists between the longitudinal and circular layers of muscularis externa in the gastrointestinal tract and provides motor innervation to both layers and secretomotor innervation to the mucosa.
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plexus of the submucosa (Meissner's plexus, Submucous plexus, submucosal plexus) is derived, and is formed by branches which have perforated the circular muscular fibers.
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In the gastrointestinal tract, the submucosa is the layer of loose connective tissue that supports the mucosa, as well as joins the mucosa to the bulk of underlying smooth muscle (fibers running circularly within layer of longitudinal muscle).
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The lamina muscularis mucosae (or "muscularis mucosa") is the thin layer of smooth muscle found in most parts of the gastrointestinal tract, located outside the lamina propria mucosae and separating it from the submucosa.
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Lymph nodes are components of the lymphatic system. They are sometimes informally called lymph glands but, as they do not secrete substances, such terminology is not entirely accurate. They are found mostly in the neck area.
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Stratified epithelial lining can refer to:

Stratified squamous epithelium
Stratified columnar epithelia
Stratified cuboidal epithelium

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Mucous glands, found in several different parts of the body, typically stain lighter than serous glands during standard histological preparation. Most are multicellular, but goblet cell are single-celled glands.
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In anatomy and physiology, a duct is a circumscribed channel leading from an exocrine gland or organ.

Types of ducts

Examples include:

Duct From To Carries
Lactiferous duct mammary gland nipple milk
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Striated muscle can refer to:

Skeletal muscle
Cardiac muscle

In practice, the term "striated muscle" is sometimes used to refer exclusively to skeletal muscle when distinguishing it from smooth muscle.
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Latin
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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germ layer is a collection of cells, formed during animal embryogenesis. Germ layers are only really pronounced in the vertebrates. However, all animals more complex than sponges (eumetazoans and ) produce two or three primary tissue layers
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epithelium is a tissue composed of a layer of cells. Epithelium lines both the outside (skin) and the inside cavities and lumen of bodies. The outermost layer of our skin is composed of dead stratified squamous, keratinized epithelial cells.
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Digestion is the process of metabolism whereby a biological entity processes a substance in order to chemically and mechanically convert the substance for the body to use.

Overview

Digestion occurs at the multicellular, cellular, and sub-cellular levels, usually in animals.
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Secretion is the process of segregating, elaborating, and releasing chemicals from a cell, or a secreted chemical substance or amount of substance.

Eukaryotic cells have a highly evolved process of secretion.
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organ (Latin: organum, "instrument, tool") is a group of tissues that perform a specific function or group of functions. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues. The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ.
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Skin layers: epidermis, dermis, and subcutis, showing a hair follicle, sweat gland & sebaceous gland.]] In zootomy and dermatology, skin is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial tissues that guard underlying muscles and organs.
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nostril (or naris, pl. nares) is one of the two channels of the nose, from the point where they bifurcate to the external opening. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates, whose function is to warm air on inhalation and
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Lips are a visible organ at the mouth of humans and many animals. Both lips are soft, protruding, movable, and serve primarily for food intake, as a tactile sensory organ, and in articulation of speech.
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outer ear is the most external portion of the ear. The outer ear includes the pinnae (also called auricle), the ear canal, and the very most superficial layer of the ear drum (also called the tympanic membrane).
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A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, as narrowly defined, is any of those anatomical parts of the body which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in a complex organism; namely:

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anus (from Latin ānus "ring, anus") is the external opening of the rectum. Closure is controlled by sphincter muscles. Feces are expelled from the body through the anus during the act of defecation, which is the primary function of the anus.
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gland is an organ in an animal's body that synthesizes a substance for release such as hormones, often into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
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highly specialized aspect of its associated subject.
Please help [ improve this article] by adding more general information.

Mucus is a slippery secretion of the lining of the mucous membranes in the body.
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