The yeast Candida albicans colonizes the skin and mucous membranes, including the human intestine, without causing symptoms. However, under certain circumstances it can lead to dangerous infections that can be life-threatening. For this reason, a precise understanding of the interactions between fungus and host is essential.

Grafics: Pixabay.

Using the gut-on-chip model, the invasiveness and translocation of the fungus in different tissue compartments can be investigated. By combining microbiological and image-based analyses, the pathogen-host interactions can be analyzed much more precisely than is possible with conventional 2D models.

Original publication:
Tim Kaden, Raquel Alonso-Roman, Parastoo Akbarimoghaddam, Alexander S. Mosig, Katja Graf, Martin Raasch, Bianca Hoffmann, Marc T. Figge, Bernhard Hube, Mark S. Gresnigt; "Modeling of intravenous caspofungin administration using an intestine-on-chip reveals altered Candida albicans microcolonies and pathogenicity"; Biomaterials, Volume 307

Press release:
https://dynamic42.com/press-release-dynamic42-3d-intestinal-chip-model/