The impact of hyperoxia and antibiotics on lung mesenchymal cells in experimental bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common adverse outcome in preterm neonates, and a high risk for early-onset emphysema and asthma. BPD is characterized by disrupted alveolar and microvascular development, due to a variety of pathogenic factors, such as hyperoxia, inflammation and dysbiosis. The resulting clinical manifestations are challenging and current treatment options are limited.

Advances in organ-on-a-chip technology to examine the impact of air pollutants on epithelial barrier tissues.

It is estimated that 99 % of the world population is exposed to air pollution above air quality guidelines and this is responsible for 6.7 million premature deaths annually. Lung and skin are the first organs exposed to air pollution, and this is associated with carcinogenesis, inflammation and atopic disease.

Co-development of mesoderm and endoderm enables organotypic vascularization in lung and gut organoids.

The vasculature and mesenchyme exhibit distinct organ-specific characteristics adapted to local physiological needs, shaped by microenvironmental and cell-cell interactions from early development. To recapitulate this entire process, we co-differentiated mesoderm and endoderm within the same spheroid to vascularize lung and intestinal organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling fine-tuned the endoderm-to-mesoderm ratio, a critical step in generating appropriate proportions of endothelial and epithelial progenitors with tissue specificity.

Protocols to co-culture human primary lung cells in the simple-flow device.

Human lung models replicate various aspects to address diverse research questions. The complexity of human lung models, such as co-cultures and lung-on-chip devices, is increasing, but details on culture methodologies are often lacking. Here, we describe steps for the isolation, maintenance, and co-culturing of primary epithelial, endothelial, and mesenchymal cells derived from human lung resection material.

The Development of 3D Primary Co-Culture Models of the Human Airway.

Current animal and in vitro cell culture models do not fully recapitulate the physiological and pathophysiological characteristics of the human lung. As a result, the translation of these models to clinical practice is very limited, and clinical trials initiated on the extrapolation of such data fail. Although current models are beneficial in fundamental research, there is a need to constantly improve models to more accurately predict outcomes in clinical trials and personalized medicine.

Simple-Flow: A 3D-Printed Multiwell Flow Plate to Coculture Primary Human Lung Cells at the Air-Liquid Interface.

Immortalized epithelial cell lines and animal models have been used in fundamental and preclinical research to study pulmonary diseases. However valuable, though, these models incompletely recapitulate the human lung, which leads to low predictive outcomes in potential respiratory treatments. Advanced technology and cell culture techniques stimulate the development of improved models that more closely mimic the physiology of the human lung.

Deciphering Endothelial and Mesenchymal Organ Specification in Vascularized Lung and Intestinal Organoids.

Unlabelled: To investigate the co-development of vasculature, mesenchyme, and epithelium crucial for organogenesis and the acquisition of organ-specific characteristics, we constructed a human pluripotent stem cell-derived organoid system comprising lung or intestinal epithelium surrounded by organotypic mesenchyme and vasculature. We demonstrated the pivotal role of co-differentiating mesoderm and endoderm via precise BMP regulation in generating multilineage organoids and gut tube patterning. Single-cell RNA-seq analysis revealed organ specificity in endothelium and mesenchyme, and uncovered key ligands driving endothelial specification in the lung (e.

Selection of potential targets for stratifying congenital pulmonary airway malformation patients with molecular imaging: is MUC1 the one?

Currently there is a global lack of consensus about the best treatment for asymptomatic congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) patients. The somatic KRAS mutations commonly found in adult lung cancer combined with mucinous proliferations are sometimes found in CPAM. For this risk of developing malignancy, 70% of paediatric surgeons perform a resection for asymptomatic CPAM.

Combating pan-coronavirus infection by indomethacin through simultaneously inhibiting viral replication and inflammatory response.

Severe infections with coronaviruses are often accompanied with hyperinflammation, requiring therapeutic strategies to simultaneously tackle the virus and inflammation. By screening a safe-in-human broad-spectrum antiviral agents library, we identified that indomethacin can inhibit pan-coronavirus infection in human cell and airway organoids models. Combining indomethacin with oral antiviral drugs authorized for treating COVID-19 results in synergistic anti-coronavirus activity.

Clinical Relevance of Rapid FOXF1-Targeted Sequencing in Patients Suspected of Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia With Misalignment of Pulmonary Veins.

Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV) is a lethal congenital lung disorder that presents shortly after birth with respiratory failure and therapy-resistant pulmonary hypertension. It is associated with heterozygous point mutations and genomic deletions that involve the FOXF1 gene or its upstream regulatory region. Patients are unresponsive to the intensive treatment regimens and suffer unnecessarily because ACDMPV is not always timely recognized and histologic diagnosis is invasive and time consuming.

Prenatal assessment of pulmonary vasculature development in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia: A literature review.

Pathophysiological studies have shown that pulmonary vascular development is impaired in fetuses with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), leading to a simplified vascular tree and increased vascular resistance. Multiple studies have described prenatal ultrasound parameters for the assessment of the pulmonary vasculature, but none of these parameters are used in daily clinical practice. We provide a comprehensive review of the literature published between January 1990 and February 2022 describing these parameters, and aim to explain the clinical relevance of these parameters from what is known from pathophysiological studies.

Immunosuppressants exert differential effects on pan-coronavirus infection and distinct combinatory antiviral activity with molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir.

Background: Immunocompromised populations, such as organ transplant recipients and patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) receiving immunosuppressive/immunomodulatory medications, may be more susceptible to coronavirus infections. However, little is known about how immunosuppressants affect coronavirus replication and their combinational effects with antiviral drugs.

Objective: This study aims to profile the effects of immunosuppressants and the combination of immunosuppressants with oral antiviral drugs molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir on pan-coronavirus infection in cell and human airway organoids (hAOs) culture models.

Longitudinal Health Status and Quality of Life in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

Objectives: To longitudinally evaluate self-reported health status (HS) and quality of life (QoL) in 8- and 12-year-old survivors of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). We hypothesized that HS would improve with age-as associated health problems tend to decline-whereas QoL would decrease, as the children start to compare themselves with peers.

Methods: Self-reported HS and QoL of 133 children born between 1999 and 2013 who had joined our standardized follow-up program were routinely assessed at the ages of 8 and 12 with generic, internationally validated, standardized instruments.

Distinct roles for SOX2 and SOX21 in differentiation, distribution and maturation of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells.

Pulmonary neuroendocrine (NE) cells represent a small population in the airway epithelium, but despite this, hyperplasia of NE cells is associated with several lung diseases, such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The molecular mechanisms causing the development of NE cell hyperplasia remains poorly understood. Previously, we showed that the SOX21 modulates the SOX2-initiated differentiation of epithelial cells in the airways.

SOX2 and SOX21 in Lung Epithelial Differentiation and Repair.

The lung originates from the ventral foregut and develops into an intricate branched structure of airways, alveoli, vessels and support tissue. As the lung develops, cells become specified and differentiate into the various cell lineages. This process is controlled by specific transcription factors, such as the SRY-related HMG-box genes and , that are activated or repressed through intrinsic and extrinsic signals.

Lung epithelium development and airway regeneration.

The lung is composed of a highly branched airway structure, which humidifies and warms the inhaled air before entering the alveolar compartment. In the alveoli, a thin layer of epithelium is in close proximity with the capillary endothelium, allowing for an efficient exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. During development proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells generates the lung architecture, and in the adult lung a proper function of progenitor cells is needed to regenerate after injury.

Recapitulating infection, thermal sensitivity and antiviral treatment of seasonal coronaviruses in human airway organoids.

Background: Human seasonal coronaviruses usually cause mild upper-respiratory tract infection, but severe complications can occur in specific populations. Research into seasonal coronaviruses is limited and robust experimental models are largely lacking. This study aims to establish human airway organoids (hAOs)-based systems for seasonal coronavirus infection and to demonstrate their applications in studying virus-host interactions and therapeutic development.

Epigenetic reactivation of transcriptional programs orchestrating fetal lung development in human pulmonary hypertension.

Phenotypic alterations in resident vascular cells contribute to the vascular remodeling process in diseases such as pulmonary (arterial) hypertension [P(A)H]. How the molecular interplay between transcriptional coactivators, transcription factors (TFs), and chromatin state alterations facilitate the maintenance of persistently activated cellular phenotypes that consequently aggravate vascular remodeling processes in PAH remains poorly explored. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in pulmonary artery fibroblasts (FBs) from adult human PAH and control lungs revealed 2460 differentially transcribed genes.

Identification of SOX2 Interacting Proteins in the Developing Mouse Lung With Potential Implications for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a structural birth defect of the diaphragm, with lung hypoplasia and persistent pulmonary hypertension. Aside from vascular defects, the lungs show a disturbed balance of differentiated airway epithelial cells. The Sry related HMG box protein SOX2 is an important transcription factor for proper differentiation of the lung epithelium.

3D Lung-on-Chip Model Based on Biomimetically Microcurved Culture Membranes.

A comparatively straightforward approach to accomplish more physiological realism in organ-on-a-chip (OoC) models is through substrate geometry. There is increasing evidence that the strongly, microscale curved surfaces that epithelial or endothelial cells experience when lining small body lumens, such as the alveoli or blood vessels, impact their behavior. However, the most commonly used cell culture substrates for modeling of these human tissue barriers in OoCs, ion track-etched porous membranes, provide only flat surfaces.

Point mutation I634A in the glucocorticoid receptor causes embryonic lethality by reduced ligand binding.

The glucocorticoid (GC) receptor (GR) is essential for normal development and in the initiation of inflammation. Healthy GR mice with reduced dimerization propensity due to a point mutation (A465T) at the dimer interface of the GR DNA-binding domain (DBD) (here GR) have previously helped to define the functions of GR monomers and dimers. Since GR retains residual dimerization capacity, here we generated the dimer-nullifying double mutant GR mice, featuring an additional mutation (I634A) in the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of GR.