Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a relevant pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF) that contributes to lung tissue impairment1. The production of polysaccharides, such as alginate and other mucoid exopolysaccharides, coordinates the progress of the disease, which leads to tenacious bacterial adherence, limits the delivery of antibiotics to bacteria and protects the bacteria against the host immune system2. The transition of P. aeruginosa from the planktonic stage to biofilm formation is a critical issue in this context, also facilitating the occurrence of antibiotic tolerance.
In the context of CF, the mouse has primarily been used as a model. Mice, however, do not spontaneously develop this disease with the introduction of CF mutations3. Most of the bacterial biofilm development and drug susceptibility studies have been performed on abiotic surfaces, such as Petri dishes. However, this approach does not represent the in vivo complexity. For instance, important biological barriers are absent, including immune cells as well as the mucosal epithelium. Though P. aeruginosa is quite toxic to epithelial cells, some groups have managed to co-cultivate an earlier P. aeruginosa biofilm with human bronchial cells. These cells originated from cystic fibrosis patients with CFTR mutation (CFBE41o- cells)4 and allowed to assess antibiotic efficacy5 or assess the correction of the CFTR protein during infection6. Such a model was shown to improve the predictability of drug efficacy, in addition to enabling characterization of issues with drugs that failed in later phases of drug development7.
However, in the lung, the mucosal epithelium is exposed to air. Moreover, immune cells present in the airways, like tissue macrophages, play an essential role against inhaled pathogens or particles8. Macrophages migrate through the different cell layers to reach the bronchial lumen and fight the infection. Furthermore, inhaled drugs also have to cope with the presence of mucus as an additional non-cellular element of the pulmonary air-blood barrier9. Indeed, several complex three-dimensional (3D) in vitro models have been developed, aiming to increase the in vivo relevance. Co-culture systems not only increase the complexity of in vitro systems for drug discovery but also enable to study cell-cell interactions. Such complexity has been addressed in studies about macrophage migration10, the release of antimicrobial peptides by neutrophils11, the role of mucus in infection9, and the epithelial cell reaction to excessive damage12. However, a reliable CF-infected in vitro model that features the genetic mutation in CF, that is exposed to the air (increased physiological condition), and integrates immune cells is still lacking.
To bridge this gap, we describe a protocol for stable human 3D co-culture of the infected airways. The model is constituted of human CF bronchial epithelial cells and macrophages, infected with P. aeruginosa and capable of representing both a diffusional and immunological barrier. With the goal of testing anti-infectives at reasonably high throughput, this co-culture was established on the permeable filter membrane of well plate inserts, using two human cell lines: CFBE41o- and THP-1 monocyte-derived macrophages. Moreover, to eventually study the deposition of aerosolized anti-infectives13, the model was established at the air-liquid interface (ALI) rather than liquid covered conditions (LCC).
As we report here, this model allows assessing not only bacterial survival upon an antibiotic treatment but also cell cytotoxicity, epithelial barrier integrity, macrophage transmigration, and inflammatory responses, which are essential parameters for drug development.
This protocol combines two relevant cell types for inhalation therapy of the pulmonary airways: macrophages and CF bronchial epithelium. These cells are seeded on opposite sides of permeable support inserts, allowing cell exposure to air (called the air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions). This co-culture of host cells is subsequently infected with P. aeruginosa. Both host cell lines are of human origin: the epithelial cells represent the cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelium, with a mutation on the CF channel (CFBE41o-), and the THP-114 cells are a well-characterized macrophage-like cell line. A confluent epithelial layer is first allowed to form on the upper side of well plate inserts before the macrophage-like cells are added to the opposite compartment. Once the co-culture is established at ALI, the system is inoculated with P. aeruginosa at the apical side. This infected co-culture system is then used to assess the efficacy of an antibiotic, e.g. tobramycin. The following end-points are analyzed: epithelial barrier integrity in terms of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), visualization of cell-cell and cell-bacteria interactions by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), bacterial survival by counting of colony-forming units (CFU), host cell survival (cytotoxicity) and cytokine release.