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Human pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) represent a unique opportunity to model lung development and chronic bronchial diseases. We generated a hiPSC line from a highly characterized healthy heavy smoker male donor free from emphysema or tobacco related disease. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were reprogrammed using integration-free Sendai virus. The cell line had normal karyotype, expressed pluripotency hallmarks, and differentiated into the three primary germ layers. The reported UHOMi007-A iPSC line may be used as a control to model lung development, study human chronic bronchial diseases and drug testing., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 University Hospital Centre of Montpellier. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Mucus is known to play a pathogenic role in muco-obstructive lung diseases, but little is known about the determinants of mucus rheology. The purpose of this study is to determine which sputum components influence sputum rheology in patients with muco-obstructive lung diseases., Methods: We performed a cross sectional prospective cohort study. Spontaneous sputum was collected from consecutive patients with muco-obstructive lung diseases. Sputum rheology was assessed using the Rheomuco® rheometer (Rheonova, Grenoble); the elastic modulus G', viscous modulus G″, and the critical stress threshold σc were recorded. Key quantitative and qualitative biological sputum components were determined by cytology, nucleic acid amplification tests and mass spectrometry., Results: 48 patients were included from January to August 2019. Among them, 10 had asthma, 14 COPD and 24 non-CF bronchiectasis (NCFB). The critical stress threshold σc predicted a sputum eosinophilia superior to 1.25% with 89.19% accuracy (AUC = 0.8762). G' and G″ are positively correlated with MUC5AC protein concentration ((rho = 0.361; P = .013) and (rho = 0.335; P = .021), respectively). σc was positively correlated with sputum eosinophilia (rho = 0.394; P = .012), MUC5B (rho = 0.552; P < .001) and total protein (rho = 0.490; P < .001) concentrations. G' and G″ were significantly higher in asthma patients (G' = 14.49[7.18-25.26]Pa, G'' = 3.0[2.16-5.38]Pa) compared to COPD (G' = 5.01[2.94-6.48]Pa, P = .010; G'' = 1.45[1.16-1.94]Pa, P = .006) and to NCFB (G' = 4.99[1.49-10.49]Pa, P = .003; G'' = 1.46[0.71-2.47]Pa, P = .002)., Conclusion: In muco-obstructive lung diseases, rheology predicts sputum eosinophilia and is correlated with mucin concentrations, regardless of the underlying disease., Clinical Trial Registration: (registrar, website, and registration number), where applicable NCT04081740., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Suehs reports grants from Astra Zeneca, outside the submitted work. Dr Patarin is a full-time employee of Rheonova. Rheonova designed and built the rheometer used in this study. Pr. Molinari reports personal fees from Astra Zeneca, grants from GSK, outside the submitted work. Pr. Bourdin reports grants, personal fees, non-financial support and other from Astra Zeneca, grants, personal fees and other from GSK, grants, personal fees, non-financial support and other from Boeringher Ingelheim, personal fees, non-financial support and other from Novartis, personal fees and other from Teva, personal fees and other from Regeneron, personal fees, non-financial support and other from Chiesi Farmaceuticals, personal fees, non-financial support and other from Actelion, other from Gilead, personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, outside the submitted work. The remaining authors (MV, JV, CH, AP, EML, IV, JC) have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

As opposed to surface marker staining, certain cell types can only be recognized by intracellular markers. Intracellular staining for use in cell sorting remains challenging. Fixation and permeabilization steps for intracellular staining and the presence of RNases notably affect preservation of high-quality mRNA. We report the work required for the optimization of a successful protocol for microarray analysis of intracellular target-sorted, formalin-fixed human bronchial club cells. Cells obtained from differentiated air-liquid interface cultures were stained with the most characteristic intracellular markers for club cell (SCGB1A1 + ) sorting. A benchmarked intracellular staining protocol was carried out before flow cytometry. The primary outcome was the extraction of RNA sufficient quality for microarray analysis as assessed by Bioanalyzer System. Fixation with 4% paraformaldehyde coupled with 0.1% Triton/0.1% saponin permeabilization obtained optimal results for SCGB1A1 staining. Addition of RNase inhibitors throughout the protocol and within the appropriate RNA extraction kit (Formalin-Fixed-Paraffin-Embedded) dramatically improved RNA quality, resulting in samples eligible for microarray analysis. The protocol resulted in successful cell sorting according to specific club cell intracellular marker without using cell surface marker. The protocol also preserved RNA of sufficient quality for subsequent microarray transcriptomic analysis, and we were able to generate transcriptomic signature of club cells., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The development of suitable Cystic Fibrosis (CF) models for preclinical bench tests of therapeutic candidates is challenging. Indeed, the validation of molecules to rescue the p.Phe508del-CFTR channel (encoded by the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator gene carrying the p.Phe508del mutation) requires taking into account their overall effects on the epithelium. Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid (SAHA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), was previously shown to be a CFTR corrector via proteostasis modulation in CFTR-deficient immortalized cells. Here, we tested SAHA effects on goblet cell metaplasia using an ex vivo model based on the air-liquid interface (ALI) culture of differentiated airway epithelial cells obtained by nasal scraping from CF patients and healthy controls. Ex vivo epithelium grew successfully in ALI cultures with significant rise in the expression of CFTR and of markers of airway epithelial differentiation compared to monolayer cell culture. SAHA decreased CFTR transcript and protein levels in CF and non-CF epithelia. Whereas SAHA induced lysine hyperacetylation, it did not change histone modifications at the CFTR promoter. SAHA reduced MUC5AC and MUC5B expression and inhibited goblet epithelial cell differentiation. Similar effects were obtained in CF and non-CF epithelia. All the effects were fully reversible within five days from SAHA withdrawal. We conclude that, ex vivo, SAHA modulate the structure of airway epithelia without specific effect on CFTR gene and protein suggesting that HDACi cannot be useful for CF treatment., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Club cell secretory protein (CCSP) is a protective biomarker associated with annual decline in lung function. COPD progression results from an imbalance between injury and repair initially triggered by cigarette smoking., Objective: We investigated the effect of CCSP as a therapeutic strategy to restore the balance between injury and repair in COPD simultaneously, validating an ex vivo air-liquid interface (ALI) culture of human bronchial epithelial cells., Methods: Endobronchial biopsy specimens (EBBs) were obtained from 13 patients with COPD, eight smokers, and eight control subjects. Morphometric analysis of the initial EBBs was performed. ALI cultures derived from the same EBBs were exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) with or without exogenous recombinant human CCSP (rhCCSP) supplementation. CCSP and IL-8 concentrations were assessed at steady state and after CSE exposure., Results: Morphometric analysis of the initial EBBs showed increased cell density but decreased immunostaining of CCSP+ cells in EBBs of patients with COPD (P = .03 vs control subjects). At steady state, lower CCSP (P = .04) and higher IL-8 levels (P < .0001) were found in COPD ALI epithelium. Exogenous rhCCSP supplementation dampened CSE-induced IL-8-release in patients with COPD and returned to levels similar to those of smokers and control subjects (P = .0001). A negative correlation was found between IL-8-release in ALI and CCSP+ cell density in initial biopsy specimens (P = .0073)., Conclusions: In vitro, rhCCSP exogenous supplementation can reverse CSE-induced IL-8 release in biopsy specimens from patients with COPD, indicating a potential use of this strategy in vivo.