Cell-based disease models - their use in industry

The ultimate objective of this cell-system is the replacement of lab animal experiments & improvement of the human test systems. The improved cellular bioassays serve here to identify phyto-based therapies. Such natural extracts serve as alternative therapy to the existing antibiotics mainly circumventing the emerging antibiotic resistance.

Candida albicans is the most common infection of candidiasis in humans.

The infectious disease model in human cell cultures is composed of
i) 2-dimensional (2D) adhesion of Candida albicans to the host’s mucosal cell barrier,
ii) and the filamentous infiltration by C.albicans in tissues (in 3D cell systems),
iiI) and a comparison to the routine plankton-type growth of C.albicans in solution.

The investigated natural extracts are provided from regional plants, then fractionated, characterized by mass spectrometry profiling and tested for anti-infectious activity in the three cell-system bioassays. In conclusion, the current project serves to identify the potential of new biotherapies using physiologically relevant 3D human cell systems.