Respiratory diseases, such as Lung Cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), are among the most common causes of disabilities and death worldwide. Their main cause is inhalation of toxic gas and particules from tobacco smoke but also from air and occupational pollutants. The airway and alveolar epitheliums are the first targets of these inhaled substances. As in lung carcinoma, epithelium dysregulations are observed in COPD, and they are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in COPD development.Detailed studies of epithelial cells and epithelium formation require to use cell culture models. Air-Liquid Interface (ALI) culture recreates a setting closer to the airway epithelial cell physiological environment. It allows to regenerate an airway epithelium from stem/progenitor cells that keeps the characteristics of the tissue of origin, providing a good system to study airway epithelial cells and their dysregulations. Within the lung tissue, epithelial cells interact with extracellular matrix and other cells (immune and endothelial cells, fibroblasts) and it is important to also study them within this microenvironment.

ALI culture can be used alone or integrated in more complex models and this collection aims at presenting methods using ALI culture for different types of primary airway and alveolar epithelial cells, normal or diseased. Methods based on variations on ALI culture, simple, integrated in coculture or in lung-on-a-chip, whether for basic research, drug discovery or toxicity assays, can be submitted. The methods can include new protocols to prepare, treat or genetically modify cells, as well as new ways for analyzing the cultures.