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Improving Human Respiratory Mucosa Tissue Models with Polyamide 6 Scaffolds
Niklas Pallmann1,2, Elena Lajtha3, Heike Oberwinkler1,3
1Department of Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry at the Institute of Functional Materials and Biofabrication and Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
A new polyamide 6 (PA6) scaffold offers an animal-free alternative for creating human airway tissue models. This innovation supports cell growth and differentiation, advancing toxicity and infection studies without animal-derived materials.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Advanced tissue-engineered respiratory models are crucial for studying drug toxicity, infection biology, and xenobiotic metabolism.
- Current models often rely on animal-derived materials like porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS), posing challenges with reproducibility and potential pathogen/antigen interference.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate a polyamide 6 (PA6)-based electrospun scaffold as an animal-free alternative to SIS for constructing human airway mucosa tissue models.
- To evaluate the PA6 scaffold's ability to support human nasal fibroblast and respiratory epithelial cell growth, differentiation, and function.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of electrospun polyamide 6 (PA6) scaffolds.
- Co-culture of human nasal fibroblasts and respiratory epithelial cells on PA6 scaffolds at the air-liquid interface.
- Assessment of extracellular matrix production, epithelial cell differentiation (mucociliary phenotype), barrier integrity, and response to influenza A virus infection.
- Comparison with traditional SIS-based models.
Main Results:
- The PA6 scaffold effectively supported extracellular matrix production by human nasal fibroblasts.
- Complete differentiation of respiratory epithelial cells to the mucociliary phenotype was achieved on PA6 scaffolds.
- PA6 and SIS scaffolds demonstrated comparable fibroblast migration, epithelial differentiation, and expression of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes.
- Both model types exhibited similar epithelial barrier integrity and susceptibility to influenza A virus infection.
Conclusions:
- Polyamide 6 (PA6) electrospun scaffolds serve as a suitable, animal-free alternative to porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) for developing human airway mucosa tissue models.
- These PA6-based models reduce reliance on animal products, enhance reproducibility, and mitigate risks associated with animal-derived contaminants.
- The findings support the use of PA6 scaffolds for more reliable and ethical research in respiratory drug/cosmetic toxicity, infection, and metabolism studies.
