Disrupting Experimental Strategies for Inhalation Toxicology: The Emergence of Microengineered Breathing-Smoking Human Lung-on-a-Chip

Abstract

Cigarette smoking is major public health problem and a substantial contributor to the pathogenesis of respiratory disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. In addition, our society faces the rapidly growing use of tobacco-related products such as electronic cigarettes. Thus, we need reliable model systems that can accurately predict the biological impact of exposure to inhaled smoke and vape and allow recreation of clinically relevant organ-level responses. In this study, we describe the emergence of "Breathing-Smoking Human Lung-on-a-Chip" microdevice at the interface of tissue microengineering, pulmonary biology, toxicopathology, and systems biology to enable study of smoke-induced lung injuries with high fidelity and precision in vitro. We also address the ability of this novel microfluidic system to overcome several major limitations of widely used animal models and static in vitro cultures of smoke exposure. While at its infancy, this technological advancement offers significant potential on how experimental inhalation toxicity studies can be performed.