Long-term maintenance of mature pulmonary parenchyma cultured in serum-free conditions.

Current concepts of the pathogenesis of lung injury and repair are derived from in vitro cellular and in vivo investigations. Studies with viable ex vivo models may offer additional insights into disease processes, since essential cellular interactions would be maintained. However, a major limiting factor has been the availability of a model that maintains normal parenchymal structure, viability, and homeostasis beyond 4 wk in serum-free conditions. We have succeeded in establishing an ex vivo lung culture system which reproducibly maintains parenchymal architecture for up to 9 wk. Our method is a simple, modified version of previously utilized techniques. Thin slices of mature murine lung were inflated with agar-defined medium and cultured on Gelfoam saturated with serum-free medium. Normal pulmonary parenchyma, with the exception of endothelial cells, was maintained for up to 60 days as assessed chronologically by light and electron microscopy. The integrity of the microvasculature and endothelial cells was lost beyond 7 days. The adult lung ex vivo culture system maintained necessary epithelial and interstitial cellular interactions in the alveolar wall without systemic circulatory influences. Future studies with this model may provide important insights in assessing the pathogenesis of many acute and chronic lung diseases and clarify existing controversies raised from in vitro and in vivo studies.