Precision-cut lung slices are very thin slices of lung tissue that can be kept alive in culture outside of the body and studied as a model for a variety of chronic pulmonary diseases. Unfortunately, slices alone are only viable for about a week, which is not enough time to study disease mechanisms and treatment. The Magin Lab has used a hydrogel embedding process to maintain precision-cut lung slice viability ex vivo for up to 21 days.
In collaboration with Dr. Meredith Tennis, we aim to use this technology to engineer ex vivo models of lung cancer to study treatment options.