EN | FR
EN | FR
Search
Lung,Cancer,Prevention,Concept.,Doctor's,Hand,Organizes,And,Arranges,Wooden

PCLS: An ex-vivo Window Into Lung Disease And Drug Discovery

Precision-Cut Lung Slices (PCLS) have emerged as a innovative ex vivo model that allows researchers to explore deep into lung physiology, disease mechanisms, and pharmacological responses. By offering a unique combination of biological complexity and controlled experimental conditions, PCLS serve as a critical bridge between the limitations of traditional in vitro cell cultures and the complexities of in vivo models. The versatility and precision of this technique have positioned PCLS as an invaluable tool in advancing our understanding of lung diseases and accelerating the discovery of novel treatments.

Applications of PCLS in Lung Research

PCLS are widely used to investigate various aspects of lung disease, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and even rare diseases like pulmonary arterial hypertension. By maintaining the lung’s natural structure and cellular diversity, PCLS allow researchers to explore the dynamic processes of lung function and disease pathogenesis in real-time.

For example, PCLS can be used to study airway reactivity—how the airways contract and relax in response to different stimuli. This is particularly valuable for understanding diseases like asthma and COPD, where the airways become overly sensitive and prone to constriction. Researchers can expose PCLS to allergens or bronchoconstrictors to simulate these conditions, allowing them to observe how the airways respond to different therapeutic interventions.

Additionally, PCLS have become a critical tool for studying fibrotic diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). In IPF, the lung tissue becomes progressively scarred and stiff, making it difficult for patients to breathe. Using PCLS from both healthy and fibrotic lungs, researchers can explore the cellular pathways that drive fibrosis, identify biomarkers, and screen potential antifibrotic drugs. By doing so, they can better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying fibrosis and develop more effective treatments.

A Versatile Platform for Drug Delivery

The versatility of PCLS extends to drug discovery, where they play a vital role in preclinical testing. Since PCLS closely mimic the natural lung environment, they are used to screen new drugs for lung diseases, enabling researchers to assess the safety, efficacy, and potential side effects of these compounds. PCLS can also be exposed to pathogens, toxins, or pharmacological agents, providing a realistic platform to study how different treatments affect lung tissue at the cellular and molecular levels.

For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, PCLS were utilized to investigate how SARS-CoV-2—the virus responsible for COVID-19—infects lung tissue and triggers inflammation. Researchers were able to use PCLS to evaluate potential antiviral therapies and better understand the pathogenesis of the disease in human lung tissue. These studies provided critical insights into the immune responses to viral infections and highlighted potential therapeutic targets.

Beyond viral infections, PCLS have been used to study lung cancer, especially in understanding how cancerous tissues respond to various treatments. Lung cancer remains one of the most lethal cancers worldwide, and traditional cell cultures often fail to replicate the complexity of tumor growth and metastasis in the lung. By using PCLS derived from lung cancer patients, researchers can study cancer cell behavior in a more natural context, allowing them to test potential cancer therapies and investigate the tumor microenvironment in a way that closely mirrors the in vivo situation.

Advancing Lung Health and Therapeutic Development

PCLS have opened new avenues for studying respiratory pathogens, including bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can cause serious lung infections. These pathogens are often difficult to study in traditional models because they interact with multiple cell types within the lung tissue. PCLS allow for the examination of these complex interactions, providing researchers with a more holistic view of how infections progress and how the lung’s defense mechanisms are activated. Importantly, PCLS can also be used to test new antimicrobial therapies, helping to combat the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

The ability to retain the intricate lung architecture and study the interactions between different cell types makes PCLS an ideal platform for understanding inflammatory lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD. In asthma, for example, PCLS can be exposed to allergens to replicate the airway inflammation and hyperreactivity seen in patients. Researchers can then test the effects of different drugs, from traditional bronchodilators to novel anti-inflammatory compounds, to determine their effectiveness in reducing airway constriction and inflammation.

Conclusion

Precision-Cut Lung Slices represent a breakthrough in the study of lung diseases and drug discovery. By preserving the structural and functional integrity of lung tissue, PCLS provide researchers with a more accurate model for studying the complexities of lung pathophysiology and the effects of potential therapies. As their use continues to grow, PCLS will undoubtedly play a critical role in advancing our understanding of lung diseases, from asthma and COPD to fibrosis and cancer, while also speeding up the discovery of new treatments.

Reference

PCLS Resource Hub

Our comprehensive PCLS Resource Hub is designed to support researchers by offering a robust collection of tools, data, and literature specific to PCLS applications. Whether you’re investigating lung biology, evaluating potential therapies, or looking for detailed methodologies, our resource hub is tailored to meet your research needs. Here, you’ll find curated PCLS-focused events, protocols, publications, and insights into the physioLens PCLS platform.

Related Products: Research Platform For PCLS

 Resources

Empowering researchers

Welcome to SCIREQ’s knowledge center. You can find everything from software registration to document downloads to complete list of SCIREQ publications in this section. Everything you need to get the most out of your SCIREQ system.