Nasal Mucociliary Epithelial Cell Culture Models for Studying Viral Infections

Respiratory nasal or lung epithelial cells serve as a valuable in vitro model for studying respiratory viral infections due to their physiological relevance and ability to recapitulate key aspects of the nasal or lung mucosa. In this chapter, we discuss the use of primary nasal epithelial cell cultures in studying viral infections, including their advantages, production methods, quality control, and identifiable disadvantages. Different methods for quantifying infection are presented with a special emphasis on how to adapt automated imaging methods and image analysis tools to the pseudostratified nasal epithelial cell models where cells are grown at the air-liquid interphase.