Airway Contractility 

Image: An example of airway resections used in our contractility studies.

Why Choose REPROCELL’s Airway Contractility Assays? 

• Human ex vivo lung assays: Our assays use fresh human lung tissue sourced from transplant networks and surgical resections. These samples, encompassing both healthy and diseased tissue, enable accurate modeling of in vivo conditions. 

• Large lung samples with numerous visible bronchi and blood vessels allow for detailed dissection of airways, from the primary bronchus to bronchi as small as 1-2 mm in diameter. 

• Comprehensive bronchoconstriction and bronchodilation analysis: Investigate both neurally mediated and direct airway responses in isolated airway tissues. Studies can assess: 

• Bronchoconstriction and bronchodilation across various airway sizes. 

• Inter-individual variations, providing critical insights before clinical trials. 

• Cross-species comparisons for translational research. 

• Disease-relevant models: Our capabilities include running studies on diseased tissues, such as those from patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These models are invaluable for understanding how test compounds promote airway relaxation or mitigate bronchoconstriction. 

• GLP-compliant safety assessments: Ensure your test articles meet regulatory standards with our Good Laboratory Practice-compliant services. 

Workflow Overview 

1. Tissue Procurement: Lung tissues are sourced from transplant networks and delivered promptly to our laboratory. 

2. Tissue Preparation: Scientists isolate and dissect the airways of interest, ranging from large conducting airways to smaller bronchi (1-2 mm in diameter).

3. Assay Setup: Airways are mounted in organ baths or wire myographs to measure contractile or relaxation responses. 

4. Drug Testing: Living tissues are exposed to your test compounds to evaluate their effects on bronchoconstriction and bronchodilation. 

Benefits of Using Fresh Human Tissue 

• Avoids species differences, ensuring translational relevance to human biology. 

• Enables profiling of inter-individual variations, offering personalized insights into drug responses. 

• Supports predictions of in vivo bronchoconstriction and bronchodilation, including neurally mediated responses. 

Whether you are focused on drug discovery, safety pharmacology, or translational research, our airway contractility assays deliver data-rich, human-relevant insights to accelerate your projects. Contact us today to learn how we can support your respiratory research needs. 

Secondary airways (healthy)

Due to the larger diameter of the secondary airways, we use our organ bath system to measure tonal changes in response to your test compounds. Airways used to measure bronchoconstriction are typically denuded of the epithelium, but we offer a completely flexible and customized protocol to meet your research needs. 

Secondary airways (diseased)

In addition to healthy secondary airways, we can source diseased tissues from donors with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Asthma is characterized by inflammation and acute bronchospasm, whereas COPD causes chronic narrowing of the airways.

Tertiary or lower airways

Due to the small size of the lower airways, we use a myograph system to measure bronchoconstriction or bronchodilation in response to your test article.  We have three reference compounds available depending on your desired endpoint, including U46619 (thromboxane A2 mimetic), acetylcholine, and leukotriene D₄ (LTD₄).

Tertiary or lower airways (bronchodilation)

We can also measure bronchodilator in response to adrenoceptor agonism in tertiary or lower airways. Salbutamol, isoprenaline and formoterol are all available as reference compounds.

Tertiary or lower airways (diseased)

In addition to healthy tertiary or lower airways, we can source these tissues from donors with asthma. Using our wire myograph model, we can measure the influence of your test articles on bronchodilation with salmeterol, salbutamol, and formoterol as reference compounds.