Test models » Co-cultures -
The immune system communicates with other tissues
In vitro tests for drugs influencing these regulatory loops
The immune system's major task is to provide all other tissues with sufficient protection against infection. Prerequisite for this is a cellular dialogue between the cells of the immune system and those of the tissues. This is accomplished by the release of messenger substances (mediators, cytokines) that are synthesised in response to various stimuli. This results in a complex regulation network the most important parts of which can excellently be investigated in vitro.For this purpose complex cell culture models are developed and offered by EDI GmbH each including two different cell types, one of the immune system and the other from different tissues. These cells may be incubated with the test substances under a variety of conditions. The substance effects on these cellular interactions are detected by the determination of those mediators or cellular products that can be considered as being specific for each of the cell types in culture. By choosing different activating signals and time points for stimulation it is possible to create a variety of culture conditions, e.g. to simulate pathogenetically relevant situations.
Another important aspect of immunologically active drugs (mainly those given perorally) is their absorbability by the intestinal epithelium. EDI developed a co-culture system consisting of cells of the human immune system (see list below) and a terminally differentiated, fully functional human gut epithelium (derived from CaCo-2 cells). This complex culture system allows a detailed investigation of not only the bio-availability of test substances but also their influence on the regulatory interactions between these two tissues in situations of immune activation.
Also in these co-culture systems we exclusively use human cells, thus another gap between simple cell culture models and animal studies, or clinical trials respectively, can be closed.
Co-Culture models using human cells developed by EDI GmbH
EDI-Co gut:Gut epithelium with
- macrophages
- isolated leukocytes or with
- whole-blood
more... download pdf
EDI-Co skin:
Skin with
- macrophages
- isolated leukocytes or with
- whole-blood
more... download pdf
EDI-Co lung:
Lung epithelium with
- macrophages
- isolated leukocytes or with
- whole-blood
EDI-Co joint:
Synoviocytes with
- macrophages
- isolated leukocytes or with
- whole-blood
EDI-Co vessel:
Primary endothelial cells with
- smooth muscle cells
- macrophages
- isolated leukocytes or with
- whole-blood
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