Why macrophages matter in the fight against cystic fibrosis
Lung macrophages play a significant role in the chronic inflammation associated with cystic fibrosis
ImmuONE today announced the launch of ImmuPHAGE™ an in vitro assay that can evaluate how substances interact with the macrophage white blood cells found in the deep lung’s alveoli.
“Laboratories across the world are recognising the need for more accurate and sustainable ways to evaluate immune reactions in the lung, and I’m proud that we are able to provide a new answer to that today,” said Dr Abigail Martin, co-founder and CEO of ImmuONE. “It is a testament to our ongoing mission to find better ways to determine chemical safety or toxicity in human lungs.”
The ImmuPHAGE™ model is composed of alveolar-like macrophage cells assembled in vitro on tissue well plates. These cells closely represent the form and function of human cells. Companies and researchers can then add their target substance to the well plates to evaluate how the cells react.
This can provide researchers with detailed information about how chemical and biochemical products may irritate the lungs. This is an important advantage over other methods, which only give an “alive” or “dead” result.
For example, ImmuPHAGE™ has applications in evaluating inhalation toxicology, cytotoxicity screening, and monitoring macrophage uptake. This is useful for clients in a range of sectors, including cosmetics, tobacco, fragrances, agri-chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and academic researchers who want to know more about human lung responses.
In some cases, ImmuPHAGE™ can dramatically reduce or even eliminate the need for animal testing, helping laboratories to achieve their responsible research goals.
ImmuPHAGE™ is fully validated and characterised for cell structure & viability, phagocytic activity and cytokine response.
ImmuONE is a life science company established in 2019 as a spin-out from the University of Hertfordshire. We specialise in human in vitro cell culture solutions for safety assessment. We are drivers in designing technology to better resemble the alveolar region and the lung’s immune system for reproducible, cell-response readouts for your inhaled mixtures. We also specialise in human in vitro cell culture solutions for safety assessment, designing new platforms to better resemble the alveolar region and immune system of the lungs.
Lung macrophages play a significant role in the chronic inflammation associated with cystic fibrosis
Inhaled substances are primarily tested on rats for toxicity, but key differences between rat and human lungs suggest it’s time to look towards alternative methods.
We’ve just returned from the Society of Toxicology conference in Nashville, where we were excited to exhibit our upcoming in vitro cell culture models.