Reconstituting Organ-Level Lung Functions on a Chip

Just Breathe Design of artificial systems that mimic in vivo organs could provide a better alternative for understanding mechanisms underlying physiological responses than current cell-based models or animal tests. Huh et al. (p. 1662 ) have created a tissue-tissue interface of human-cultured epithelial cells and endothelial cells together, with extracellular matrix in a device that models the alveolar-capillary interface of the human lung. The device mimicked physiological organ-level functions, including pathogen-induced inflammatory responses and responses to cytokine exposure. Breathing-type movements affected acute pulmonary cell toxicity and proinflammatory activity of widely used nanoparticulates.