Culture media influences primary human bronchial epithelial cell morphology, differentiation status, and transcriptional response to ozone exposure.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to the ambient air pollutant ozone induces acute and chronic respiratory health effects in part by causing inflammation of the airways. Several aspects of the inflammatory response to ozone can be modeled in vitro using primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) cultured at an air-liquid interface. We tested two commonly used HBEC culture media systems, one proprietary and one non-proprietary, to identify which system yielded the most in vivo-like pro-inflammatory response to acute ozone exposure as reflected by gene expression. Cells from 6 donors were grown in each culture system in parallel, followed by examination of epithelial morphology and cell type proportions prior to ozone exposure. Cultures grown in the proprietary system were notably thicker and contained more ci

SUBMITTER: Lester SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12448227 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature