Researchers Developed a New Human-Based Lung Model to Study Highly Infectious Respiratory Illnesses

Study in a Sentence: Researchers developed a model of the human alveolus—where air passes from the lungs into blood while breathing—and demonstrated its effectiveness for studying tuberculosis infection.

Healthy for Humans: The human alveolus acts as a defense mechanism against inhaled pathogens like tuberculosis, which causes more than one million deaths globally each year. Studying tuberculosis in nonhuman animals is inherently limited due to species-specific differences in anatomy and disease progression, pointing to the need for physiologically relevant human-based models of the human alveolus.

Redefining Research: Derived from human lung, vascular, and immune cells, this advanced in vitro model replicates key features of alveoli, including the mechanical stretching that occurs during breathing and the air-liquid interface where oxygen enters the blood. Researchers used this model to study early events in tuberculosis infection, but it can also be used to study other lung diseases and test new therapies.