Assessment of long-term cultivated human precision-cut lung slices as an ex vivo system for evaluation of chronic cytotoxicity and functionality

BACKGROUND: Investigation of basic chronic inflammatory mechanisms and development of new therapeutics targeting the respiratory tract requires appropriate testing systems, including those to monitor long- persistence. Human precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) have been demonstrated to mimic the human respiratory tract and have potential of an alternative, ex-vivo system to replace or augment in-vitro testing and animal models. So far, most research on PCLS has been conducted for short cultivation periods (

Neuhaus, V.; Schaudien, D.; Golovina, T.; Temann, U. A.; Thompson, C.; Lippmann, T.; Bersch, C.; Pfennig, O.; Jonigk, D.; Braubach, P.; Fieguth, H. G.; Warnecke, G.; Yusibov, V.; Sewald, K.; Braun, A.