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Generation of Human 3D Lung Tissue Cultures 3D-LTCs for Disease Modeling
Published on: February 12, 2019
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Development of a Three-Dimensional Bioengineering Technology to Generate Lung Tissue for Personalized Disease
Dan C Wilkinson1, Jackelyn A Alva-Ornelas2, Jennifer M S Sucre2
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Stem Cells Translational Medicine
|February 14, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed a novel method to create self-assembled human lung tissue for disease modeling. This approach shows promise for studying lung diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and for drug discovery.
Area of Science:
- Regenerative Medicine
- Tissue Engineering
- Disease Modeling
Background:
- Stem cell technologies offer potential for personalized therapies and organ regeneration.
- Current limitations exist in assembling differentiated cells into functional organ-level tissues.
- Existing animal models often fail to accurately recapitulate human lung diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a method for generating self-assembled human lung tissue.
- To explore the potential of this tissue for disease modeling and drug discovery, particularly for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
- To develop patient-specific lung tissue models for scalable drug screening.
Main Methods:
- Generation of self-assembled human lung tissue using cellular adhesion to alveolar sac templates, bioreactor rotation, and cellular contraction.
- Induction of scarring in mesenchymal organoids using transforming growth factor-β1.
- Modification of organoids to include multiple lung cell types in correct anatomical locations.
Main Results:
- The method successfully generated self-assembled human lung tissue.
- Mesenchymal organoids treated with transforming growth factor-β1 exhibited scarring characteristic of IPF, unlike 2D cultures.
- The lung organoid model can incorporate multiple cell types, recapitulating the lung microenvironment and cell-cell interactions.
Conclusions:
- The developed bottom-up approach enables the creation of scalable, patient-specific lung tissue.
- This self-assembled lung tissue serves as a relevant human model for studying lung diseases like IPF.
- The model holds potential for high-throughput drug screening to identify targeted therapies for progressive lung scarring diseases.
