3D Reconstruction of the Human Airway Mucosa In Vitro as an Experimental Model to Study NTHi Infections

PLoS One. 2016 Apr 21;11(4):e0153985. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153985. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

We have established an in vitro 3D system which recapitulates the human tracheo-bronchial mucosa comprehensive of the pseudostratified epithelium and the underlying stromal tissue. In particular, we reported that the mature model, entirely constituted of primary cells of human origin, develops key markers proper of the native tissue such as the mucociliary differentiation of the epithelial sheet and the formation of the basement membrane. The infection of the pseudo-tissue with a strain of NonTypeable Haemophilus influenzae results in bacteria association and crossing of the mucus layer leading to an apparent targeting of the stromal space where they release large amounts of vesicles and form macro-structures. In summary, we propose our in vitro model as a reliable and potentially customizable system to study mid/long term host-pathogen processes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Haemophilus Infections / metabolism
  • Haemophilus Infections / physiopathology*
  • Haemophilus influenzae
  • Humans
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Models, Anatomic*
  • Respiratory Mucosa / cytology*
  • Respiratory Mucosa / virology

Grants and funding

This work was supported by internal funding from GSK Vaccines. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors PM, SM, JT, MS and AP, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the 'author contributions' section. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.