Advanced 3D In Vitro Lung Fibrosis Models: Contemporary Status, Clinical Uptake, and Prospective Outlooks

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Pulmonary Medicine

Background:

• Pulmonary fibrosis is a global health issue causing organ dysfunction with limited treatment options.
• Current understanding of disease pathogenesis is inadequate, hindering the development of antifibrotic therapies.
• Existing in vitro models fail to replicate the complex 3D tissue microenvironment and temporal disease progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review emerging trends in advanced lung models for recapitulating lung fibrogenesis.
• To highlight the limitations of in vivo studies and conventional cell cultures in simulating lung fibrosis.
• To explore the potential of tissue-mimetic 3D models for drug screening and therapeutic development.

Main Methods:

• Review of advancements in biomaterials, biofabrication, and biomicrofluidics for creating 3D lung models.
• Discussion of techniques to replicate lung epithelium structure and biochemical/biomechanical processes.
• Analysis of how these models can simulate myofibroblast differentiation and cell crosstalk.

Main Results:

• Advanced bioengineering techniques enable the creation of sophisticated in vitro lung models.
• These models offer improved accuracy in simulating the 3D tissue microenvironment compared to conventional methods.
• Potential for reliable drug screening and precise prediction of therapeutic efficacy.

Conclusions:

• Tissue-mimetic 3D lung models are essential for advancing our understanding of pulmonary fibrosis.
• These models facilitate the identification and characterization of potential antifibrotic drugs.
• Further research and development of these advanced models hold significant promise for clinical translation and novel treatment strategies.