recently i learned of an advent in the field of medical and biological research: the artificial immune system. this is, essentially, an in vitro simulation of the human immune system. the process begins by growing an artificial epithelium, using huvec cells (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) over a collagen matrix. (picture a honeycomb with each little compartment coated in huvec cells). through the secretion of growth factors and human matrix proteins a complete layer of human of epithelial tissue is formed. this becomes the vaccination site. after vaccination diapedesis of monocytes occurs, followed by transendothelial migration and morphology of dendridic cells. the next step is to expose the dendritic cells to the LTE or lympoid tissue equivalent. this is an environment that mimics that of a human lymphnode. from the reaction that occurs within the LTE, various assays can be used to determine the immune response of the artificial immune system.
this process uses 96 well plates – and each well represents cells from a different person. the advantage to this is that studies can be conducted across a very diverse population at a drastically reduced cost compared to what conducting an equivalent study using actual human immune systems would cost. the downside is that this artificial environment doesn’t make allowances for any variables that might have an effect on an individual’s immune response.
regardless of the pros and cons, simply learning this system existed blew me away. or maybe freaked me out slightly. i don’t know if this is the wave of the future or not but it’s certainly taking one more step down a strange and bizarre path in the world of research.