In inhalation therapy, drugs are deposited as aerosols on cells of the respiratory tract from the nasal or lung region. Physiologically realistic in vitro cell culture models of the pulmonary epithelium and the air-blood barrier as well as from the nasal region are commercially available. Recently, these models have been refined to mimic  SARS-CoV-2 infections.

VITROCELL Application Note.

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Sonja Mülhopt¹, Christoph Schlager², Markus Berger², Sivakumar Murugadoss³, Peter H. Hoet³, Tobias Krebs², Hanns-Rudolf paur¹ & Dieter Stapf^1
1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Technical Chemistry, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344, Germany. 
²Vitrocell Systems GmbH, Waldkirch, 79183, Germany. 
³KU Leuven, Environment and Health, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.

The surface dose and the spatial distribution on the membrane delivers important data for  measuring dose-response relationships in toxicity studies.  Image evaluation of transmission electron  microscopy (TEM) samples is a highly sensitive method for determination of deposition. This paper reports  the development and characterization of a novel holder for film coated TEM copper grids, which allows for  sampling under identical geometric and ambient conditions as in a cell culture chamber. 

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Autor

Francesca Lake

Source
Barosova H, Maione AG, Septiadi D et al. Use of EpiAlveolar lung model to predict fibrotic potential of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. ACS Nano

doi:10.1021/acsnano.9b06860 (2020);
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.9b06860
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/pfte-psg032420.php

The model utilizes an air–liquid interface exposure device, VITROCELL Cloud, which PETA had awarded to the Heriot–Watt group in 2017 along with three other groups, in an attempt to support the development of non-animal toxicity testing methods.

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https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b06860

Autors
Barosova H¹, Maione AG², Septiadi D¹, Sharma M³, Haeni L¹, Balog S¹, O'Connell O², Jackson GR², Brown D⁴, Clippinger AJ³, Hayden P^2,5, Petri-Fink A^1,6, Stone V⁴, Rothen-Rutishauser B¹.

¹ Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
² MatTek Corporation, 200 Homer Avenue, Ashland, Massachusetts 01721, United States.
³ PETA International Science Consortium Ltd., 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL, U.K.
⁴ Nano-Safety Research Group, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, U.K.
⁵ BioSurfaces, Inc., 200 Homer Ave, Ashland, Massachusetts 01721, United States.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 9, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.

This study characterizes a 3D in vitro alveolar tissue model comprised entirely of primary human cells to investigate its ability to predict pulmonary fibrosis. The study demonstrated that the EpiAlveolar model recapitulates relevant lung phenotypes and functions and is stable at VITROCELL Cloud with repeated exposures over 3 weeks. 

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.impact.2020.100215

Autors

Yifang Wang^a, Andrea,Adamcakova-Dodd^b, Benjamin R.Steines^b, Xuefang Jing^b, Aliasger K.Salem^c, Peter S.Thornea^b
a Human Toxicology Interdisciplinary Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
^b Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
^c College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

Highlights
• An in vitro co-culture model utilizing endothelial and epithelial cells and differentiated macrophages was established.
• Air-liquid interface exposures to Ag-SiO2 and CuO nanoparticles produced cell death, oxidative stress and cytokine release.
• Mono- and co-culture models showed comparable excposure outcomes except that cytokines were higher in the co-culture system.
• Compared to epithelia cells or macrophages alone, responses to CuO in the co-culture model indicated cellular interaction

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