Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology

Arno Gutleb

Tommaso Serchi

Mathieu Gerard

Aline Chary

Brunhilde Blomeke

Brunehilde BLÖMEKE

A system for incubating one or more cells and/or organotypic cultures for biological investigation, in particular for toxicology assessment, comprising a bio-incubator and a pressure system fluidly connected with the bio-incubator. The pressure system is a cyclic gas pressure system configured for cyclically varying the gas pressure in the bio-incubator between a negative pressure and a positive pressure compared to the atmospheric pressure, so as to reproduce the pressure conditions in lungs of a living mammal. The system is remarkable in that the cyclic gas pressure system comprises a feedthrough with a pipe configured to deviate the air influx from the one or more cells and/or organotypic cultures.

Cell bio-incubator with a variable internal pressure

The invention relates to a three-dimensional in vitro alveolar lung model comprising essentially the four cells types as follows: alveolar type II epithelial cells able to secrete (lung laying) surfactant, endothelial cells which forms the inner lining of capillaries providing a permeable barrier, dendritic-like cells, such as non-differentiated THP-1, linking innate and adaptive immunity and macrophage-like cells, able to participate to defense mechanisms by ingesting foreign materials by phagocytosis. The invention also relates to a process for preparing said model, and its use for assessing the irritation potential or toxicity of inhalable products such as particles or molecules on the alveolar barrier of lungs, and also for determining and/or predicting the sensitizing effects of inhalable products such as particles or molecules on the alveolar barrier of lungs.

Three-dimensional in vitro lung model, process for preparing said model, and its use for determining and /or predicting the sensitizing effects of inhalable products

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Remich, Luxembourg

Arno Gutleb