What is MucilAir™?
MucilAir™ is an in vitro 3D epithelium of the human upper respiratory tract made of primary low passage cells cultured at the air liquid interface. The primary cells are passage 1 (cells have been plated in cell culture vessel after isolation and then enzymatically removed for cryopreservation).
The tissues are reconstituted and sold on a microporous filter (diameter = 6.5 mm, porosity = 1 µm), in an insert of 6.5 mm diameter.
MucilAir™ is available from different anatomical regions of the upper respiratory tract (nose, trachea and bronchi)
The MucilAir™ model has 3 cell types: basal cells, goblet (or mucus) cells and ciliated cells. Each epithelium contains approximately 500,000 cells.
What is SmallAir?
SmallAir™ is an in vitro 3D epithelium of the human lower respiratory tract (bronchiolar region) made of primary low passage cells cultured at the air liquid interface.
This model has 3 main cell types: basal cells, ciliated cells, and, in contrast to MucilAir™, contains a large proportion of club cells and very few goblet cells.
What are the advantages of MucilAir and SmallAir™ models?
- Made of low passage cells
- Nasal, bronchial, tracheal or Bronchiolar versions available
- Single donor or pool of donors versions available
- Batch-to-batch reproducibility
- Mimics the in vivo tissue (air-liquid interface, mucus, ciliated cells)
- Long shelf-life (up to one year)
- Easy and ready to use
- Several pathological versions available
- Ethically beneficial by limiting animal experimentation
What are the different versions of MucilAir™ and SmallAir™ commercially available?
Our epithelia can be obtained from cells of healthy patients, but also from patients with various pathologies. The current versions of MucilAir™ and SmallAir™ can be available for the following pathologies:
- Asthma
- COPD
- Smoker
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Allergic Rhinitis
Additionally, all these versions of MucilAir™ and SmallAir™ are available in co-culture with primary human fibroblasts (MucilAir™-HF and SmallAir™-HF respectively).
How do you guarantee the quality of your products?
Before shipment, our products go through a strict quality control process. We use the following measures to determine whether the product meets our standards:
- Cilia Beating Frequency
- Tightness of the epithelium (checking of the Trans Epithelial Electrical Resistance)
- Presence of mucus
- Morphology
- Tested negative for HIV-1, mycoplasma, hepatitis-B, hepatitis-C, bacteria, yeast and fungi
What are the possible applications?
The MucilAir™ and SmallAir™ models have multiple applications. To this day, it has been used for the following tests:
- Inflammatory reactions
- Muco-ciliary clearance
- Acute or chronic toxicity
- Ion channels (ussing chambers)
- Mucin assay
- Irritation
- Nanotoxicity
- Carcinogenesis
- Bioaccumulation
- Trans-epithelial transport
- Histology
- Transcriptomics
- Permeability
- Bacterial or Viral infections
I would like to run tests with MucilAir™ but I am not sure of the best strategy to adopt?
You can get in touch with our team to discuss your issue(s). We can also provide you with protocols designed by Epithelix. Alternatively, as part of a contract research organization, we can offer you to conduct the tests in our laboratories if you would like to benefit from our expertise on MucilAir.
Is there a specific medium needed in order to maintain MucilAir™ in culture?
Epithelix has developed an ideal medium for maintaining MucilAir™ in culture: MucilAir™ Culture Medium. This medium is chemically defined, serum free, and ready to use. The average need per insert for one month of culture is estimated to 5.6 mL. Culture medium needs to be changed twice a week. The volume per well is 700 μL.
Our culture medium is available in 125 mL and 500 mL bottles. As for the media’s validity period, if bottles are kept at +4°C in the dark, we guarantee the media’s quality for 6 months after reception or 3 months after opening, whichever happens first.
Example:
| Reception date |
Storage condition |
Opening date |
End of validity |
| January |
Dark, +4°C |
- |
June |
| January |
Dark, +4°C |
January |
March |
| January |
Dark, +4°C |
March |
May |
| January |
Dark, +4°C |
May |
June |
How do you obtain the cells?
Cells are collected from patients undergoing surgeries. After obtaining their consent and instead of destroying the surgical waste, we collect samples of interest. Patients contribute to the reduction of animal experimentation by donating their cells.
