Mimicking Asthma on a Chip (IMAGE)

Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard

Mimicking Asthma on a Chip

Caption

The team mimicked an asthmatic airway on their airway muscle-on-a-chip by first introducing Interleukin-13 (IL-13), a natural protein often found in the airway of asthmatic patients. Then they used a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine to trigger the smooth muscle to hypercontract, and a bronchodilator used in inhalers called a β-agonist to elicit muscle relaxation.

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Harvard's Wyss Institute and Harvard SEAS

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Credit: Harvard’s Wyss Institute and Harvard SEAS

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