As part of an approach to move away from using traditional tissue or whole-body models in research, the Pre-clinical team at UKHSA’s Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC) have developed an expanding capability in the use of micro physiological systems (MPS). An example of this are the ‘organ-on-a-chip’ models.

This means that scientists have the capabilities to grow a range of different cells in 3D structures that represent tissues and mimic human organs. The VDEC started out by infecting these systems with various pathogens, and have developed this into being able to introduce parts of human immune system so the model can understand how our bodies fight infectious disease and how that protection can be advanced.

A further benefit of this research is that it should help to reduce reliance on using animals for research. In the future, it is possible that increasing the complexity and capability of MPS models and the analytical tools we use to interrogate them may replace some aspects of animal research in medical research.

Alongside teams that are developing and testing the MPs technology are teams who are using established challenge models, which allow for direct comparison of human tissue replicating a whole organ system. VDEC currently have two human lung-on-chip models, one human bronchial airway and another human alveolus, which have both been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus 2, the virus responsible for COVID-19) to investigate the effect of this virus against various lung tissue types.

The use of this MPS technology allows our scientists to study infections from a new point of view, and allows various environmental or immunological elements to be added or removed to investigate their impact, giving them greater control and customisability in their research.

VDEC is at the forefront of this exciting technology, pushing its potential to the limits of human disease research and therapeutics for the benefit of public health.