This video, we're going to talk a little bit about peristalsis and the mucociliary escalator. Mucus membranes have mechanisms that can move microbes towards areas where they can be easily eliminated from our bodies. For example, moving microbes through our digestive tract towards the anus where they can be easily eliminated. Now peristalsis specifically refers to the intestinal tract muscle contractions that will contract and move food, liquids, and microbes that we've ingested towards the anus where they can be easily eliminated. The mucociliary escalator refers to the synchronized movement of cilia, which, recall from our previous lesson videos, are small hair-like projections that move like oars and can move substances through a system. The mucociliary escalator is the synchronized movement of cilia that move microbes out of the respiratory tract and towards our mouth.
The movement of these microbes is going to be once again away from our lungs, away from our respiratory tract and towards our mouth, where those microbes can be easily expelled from the body via coughing, sneezing, or we could swallow those microbes into our digestive tract where peristalsis can eliminate those microbes through the anus. Microbes that enter the nasal cavity can actually get trapped in what we refer to as the mucociliary blanket. The mucociliary blanket refers to ciliary cells in the nose and sinuses that are covered in mucus. Their job is to trap microbes that enter into our body and then to remove those microbes to make sure that they don't cause us any harm.
If we take a look at our image down below on the left-hand side, notice that we're focusing specifically on the first line of defense of innate immunity on the physical barriers, specifically talking about the mucociliary escalator. The mucociliary escalator somewhat resembles an escalator because microbes that are in the lungs can be moved towards the mouth and nose. You can see the movement of the mucus is in this direction, and this is because we have cells that have cilia that can move the mucus and the microbes that are embedded within the mucus towards our mouth and nose where we can easily eliminate those microbes in our mucus either through coughing, sneezing, or again, swallowing the mucus into our digestive tract where those microbes can be eliminated.
In our trachea, you can see the mucociliary escalator where we have mucus and foreign particles embedded within our mucus, and notice that these cells have cilia. These cilia can beat in a specific direction to move the mucus and move the foreign particles towards an area of interest. In this case, it's an escalator moving the mucus towards the mouth area and the nose area where, once again, they can be eliminated through sneezing, coughing, or swallowing the mucus so that it can be eliminated through our digestive tract.
This concludes our brief lesson on peristalsis and the mucociliary escalator and how they can help to eliminate microbes that have entered into the body and been trapped in the mucus membranes. We'll be able to apply some of these concepts moving forward and learn more as well. I'll see you all in our next video.