A human-relevant epithelial-fibroblast co-culture platform for integrated analysis of PHMG-HCl-induced pulmonary...

Polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMG-HCl) is a fibrogenic chemical associated with severe pulmonary injury, however, human-relevant in vitro systems capable of mechanistically evaluating fibrogenic responses remain limited. Pulmonary fibrosis is driven by complex interactions between injured epithelial cells and activated mesenchymal cells, highlighting the need for multicellular human-based models that capture these processes. In this study, we established a human epithelial-fibroblast co-culture model integrated with a multi-analysis framework to evaluate pulmonary fibrogenic toxicity. Primary human airway epithelial cells (hAECB) were differentiated under air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions to form a pseudostratified epithelium, which was subsequently co-cultured with lung fibroblasts to enable epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk. Acute exposure to PHMG-HCl (0.1-300 μg/mL) resulted in concentration-dependent epithelial barrier disruption, oxidative stress, and inflammatory cytokine production, accompanied by impaired mucociliary clearance. These epithelial alterations were associated with increased fibroblast migration, enhanced contractile activity, and upregulation of myofibroblast-related markers, including α-smooth muscle actin and collagen. Overall, this co-culture model captures sequential epithelial injury and mesenchymal activation within a single human-relevant in vitro platform. The integrated multi-analysis approach provides mechanistically anchored endpoints relevant to pulmonary fibrogenesis and supports the utility of this system for predictive assessment of fibrogenic respiratory toxicants.