Respiratory diseases are one of the leading causes of death worldwide, imposing a significant health and economic burden on patients and healthcare systems. Therefore, there is an urgent need for technologies to optimize diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. The development of ex vivo human model systems, especially precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) model, contributes to the study of the pathogenesis of respiratory infections, leading to the discovery and validation of potential new targets and therapies.
Currently, research on the underlying disease mechanisms of respiratory diseases mainly relies on cell models and animal models. Although these traditional models provide crucial insights, each model has some limitations.
Two-dimensional (2D) cell culture relies on immortalized cell lines with dramatically altered metabolic and gene expression profiles. More complex three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models recapitulate tissue architecture to some extent. However, these cellular models fail to recapitulate the true cellular richness and spatial complexity of the lung.
Although animal models play a vital role in the study of respiratory diseases, experimental results produced by animals raised in well-controlled environments cannot reflect the conditions of human respiratory diseases. In addition, there are clear differences between animal model phenotypes and those observed in the clinic. Therefore, these models cannot be transferred between laboratory models and clinics.
Fig.1 Procedure to generate PCLS. (Liu, 2019)
PCLS encompass all cell types in the tissue of interest and reflects disease-associated changes in the extracellular matrix. | PCLS preserve cellular complexity and lung architecture, providing a platform to study respiratory pathogens in a near-native setting. | The PCLS model system can effectively reduce the number of animals used for lung disease studies. | ||
PCLS play a crucial role in the paired analysis of multiple treatments in the same patient. | PCLS can be generated from different areas within the same lung to represent tissue and disease heterogeneity. |
Fig.2 Features of PCLS. (Creative Biolabs)
Storing PCLS for future use by cryopreservation is a breakthrough in PCLS usage. Cryopreserved PCLS preserved important immune cell functions, including lymphocyte phagocytosis and proliferation. Thus, this storage modality allows for long-term storage of slices, enabling the collection of many phenotypes before experimentation.
PCLS are emerging as powerful tools for bridging the gap between target identification and translation into clinical research. Our diverse PCLS models open new avenues for future precision medicine approaches. If you are interested in our ex vivo PCLS models, please contact us in time for more details.
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