The primary epithelial cells are expanded as 3D organoids, dissociated, and cultured on a porous membrane within a microfluidic device with human intestinal
microvascular endothelium cultured in a parallel microchannel under flow and cyclic deformation.
Here we present a novel human Airway Lung - Chip containing a fully - differentiated human mucociliary airway epithelium separated from a pulmonary
microvascular endothelium by a semi-permeable membrane that allows for immune cell infiltration.
«Ours is the first study to define the dormant niche on a cellular and molecular basis, and it is interesting that the culprit is the tissue we so often assume is a passive bystander,
the microvascular endothelium,» Ghajar says.