In vitro lung slices: a powerful approach for assessment of lung pathophysiology

Abstract

This review summarizes the existing literature on the use of in vitro lung slices to study pulmonary physiology, pharmacology, pathogenesis and toxicity. Since in vitro lung slices maintain cell–cell and cell–matrix relationships in a highly controllable and accessible setting, they offer many advantages over both in vivo and single-cell culture systems. With the advent of high-production slicers, lung slices can be rapidly and reproducibly generated, including from animals treated in vivo. Slices can then be treated in vitro and analyzed using high-throughput technology. Therefore, the lung-slice system offers broad, current and unrealized potential for the detection of toxicity and the delineation of pathophysiologic and therapeutic mechanisms.

Keywords::

• in vitro
• lung-slice culture
• lung toxicology
• metabolism
• methodology
• precision-cut lung slices

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Notes

^†Supplements are used in various amounts and combinations.