Figure 2. HBECs Cultured in PneumaCult™-Ex Successfully Differentiate into a Pseudostratified Mucociliary Epithelium with PneumaCult™-ALI
Early-passage (P1-3) HBECs cultured in PneumaCult™-Ex successfully differentiate when cultured at air-liquid interface with PneumaCult™-ALI for 28 days. H&E staining revealed the pseudostratifi ed structure of the epithelium with cilia present at the apical surface (A). Periodic acid-Schiff staining demonstrated the presence of goblet cells (B). The presence of ciliated and goblet cells was also demonstrated by immunofl uorescence staining of cilia marker acetylated (AC)-Tubulin (green; C) and the goblet cell marker Mucin5AC (green; D). Appropriate positioning of basal cells along the transwell insert was visualized by immunofl uorescence staining using the basal cell markers p75NTR (green) and p63 (red; E,F). A representative merged image indicates the apical cells, detected by DAPI alone, positioned along the epithelium and in close contact with the basal cells (detected by DAPI, p63 and p75NTR co-labeling) located along the insert (G).

Figure 3. Electrophysiological characterization of differentiated HBECs (P4) that were expanded in PneumaCult™-Ex Plus, PneumaCult™-Ex, and Bronchial Epithelial Growth Media
TEER (A) and representative characterization of the ion channel activities (B) for ALI cultures at 28 days post air-lift using HBECs expanded in PneumaCult™-Ex Plus, PneumaCult™-Ex, or Bronchial Epithelial Growth Media. Amiloride: ENaC inhibitor. IBMX and Forskolin: CFTR activators. Genistein: CFTR potentiator. CFTRinh-172: CFTR inhibitor. UTP: Calciumactivated Chloride channels (CaCCs) activator. All ALI differentiation cultures were performed using PneumaCult™-ALI.