Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Dynamic Culture Improves the Predictive Power of Bronchial and Alveolar Airway Models of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

doi: 10.1101/2025.07.21.665885

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Schematic of the PhysioMimix® lung MPS co-culture system. Epithelial cells were seeded on the apical side of the Transwell® insert and human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMVECs) on the basolateral side, under air–liquid interface (ALI) and dynamic flow conditions. (B) Representative H&E and Alcian blue-stained histological section of bronchial MPS co-culture after 14 days. Mucus is stained blue; endothelial cells are indicated by white arrows. Scale bar, 50 µm. (C) TEER measurements comparing epithelial monoculture, endothelial monoculture, and epithelial–endothelial co-culture over 14 days under ALI conditions. (D) TEER comparison of bronchial and alveolar co-cultures grown under static or dynamic flow MPS conditions over the 14-day ALI differentiation period. (E) Gene expression of Club cell (SCGB1A1) and Goblet cell (MUC5AC) markers in NHBE cells before culture (NHBE pellet) and after 14 days of differentiation in MPS co- culture. (F) Gene expression of alveolar markers - AT1 (AQP5) and AT2 (SFTPB) - in SAEC cells before culture (SAEC pellet) and after 14 days of MPS co-culture. (G) Immunofluorescence staining of bronchial MPS co-culture tissue for acetylated α-tubulin (yellow), mucus (MUC5AC, green), actin (phalloidin, red), and nuclei (Hoechst 33342, blue). Top row shows epithelial layer; bottom row shows endothelial layer. Scale bar, 100 µm. (H) Immunofluorescence staining of alveolar MPS co-culture tissue after 14 days of differentiation, showing surfactant (SFTPB, green), actin (phalloidin, magenta), and nuclei (Hoechst 33342, blue). Endothelial cells are marked with white arrows. Scale bar, 20 µm.

Article Snippet: Airway models were comprised of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC) (PromoCell, C-12281, lot.489Z024.1) and small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) (Lonza, CC-2547, lot.21TL214918) or normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE) (Lonza, CC-2540, lot.21TL035497) for the alveolar and bronchial airway model, respectively.

Techniques: Co-Culture Assay, Staining, Comparison, Gene Expression, Immunofluorescence

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Respiratory virus-induced bacterial dysregulation in pediatric airway tissue and the dual actions of Echinacea in reducing complications

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1579551

Figure Lengend Snippet: Blocking ICAM-1 and PAFr reduces S. pneumoniae adhesion to virus-infected NHBE cells. Anti-ICAM-1 and anti-PAFr antibodies significantly reduced S. pneumoniae adhesion in (A) RSV- and (B) HPIV3-infected NHBE cells, rather than with PV14 infection (C) . Results are expressed as mean values ±SD from three independent experiments Statistical significance: p < 0.01 (**), p < 0.0001 (****), “ns” indicates no significance.

Article Snippet: Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells and EpiAirway 3D tissue models (AIR 100-D2) were obtained from MatTek Corporation (Ashland, MA, United States).

Techniques: Blocking Assay, Virus, Infection

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Respiratory virus-induced bacterial dysregulation in pediatric airway tissue and the dual actions of Echinacea in reducing complications

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1579551

Figure Lengend Snippet: Blocking ICAM-1, PAFr, and CEACAM-1 reduces Hib adhesion to virus-infected NHBE cells. (A) Blocking ICAM-1 and PAFr significantly reduced Hib adhesion at all viral stimuli ( p < 0.05 (*) to p < 0.0001 (****)). (B) ICAM-1 blocking was most effective in HPIV3-infections. (C) CEACAM-1 blocking was most effective with RV14 p < 0.0001 (****). Data are presented as mean ± SD from three independent experiments; “ns” denotes no significant difference.

Article Snippet: Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells and EpiAirway 3D tissue models (AIR 100-D2) were obtained from MatTek Corporation (Ashland, MA, United States).

Techniques: Blocking Assay, Virus, Infection

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Respiratory virus-induced bacterial dysregulation in pediatric airway tissue and the dual actions of Echinacea in reducing complications

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1579551

Figure Lengend Snippet: The Effect of EF extract on infection-induced PAFr expression in NHBE cells. PAFr expression in NHBE cells following infection with RSV, HPIV3 and RV14, 72 h post-infection, with or without EF treatment. This Figure represents one of three independent experiments, captured at ×20 magnification.

Article Snippet: Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells and EpiAirway 3D tissue models (AIR 100-D2) were obtained from MatTek Corporation (Ashland, MA, United States).

Techniques: Infection, Expressing

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Respiratory virus-induced bacterial dysregulation in pediatric airway tissue and the dual actions of Echinacea in reducing complications

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1579551

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effect of EF extract on induced ICAM-1 expression in NHBE cells. The image represents one experiment out of three independent experiments, captured at ×20 magnification.

Article Snippet: Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells and EpiAirway 3D tissue models (AIR 100-D2) were obtained from MatTek Corporation (Ashland, MA, United States).

Techniques: Expressing

Journal: Frontiers in Pharmacology

Article Title: Respiratory virus-induced bacterial dysregulation in pediatric airway tissue and the dual actions of Echinacea in reducing complications

doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1579551

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effects of EF extract on CEACAM-1 expression in NHBE cells. The results are from one representative experiment, typical of three independent experiments, viewed at ×20 magnification. Fluorescence intensity was measured using ImageJ.

Article Snippet: Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial (NHBE) cells and EpiAirway 3D tissue models (AIR 100-D2) were obtained from MatTek Corporation (Ashland, MA, United States).

Techniques: Expressing, Fluorescence