Infectious Disease Research

Modeling viral-bacterial co-infection in pneumonia

Pneumonia is a leading infectious disease worldwide, with influenza causing recurrent epidemics associated with high mortality. Clinical data shows that disease severity is often influenced by secondary bacterial co‑infections, including Staphylococcus aureus. Conventional 2D models fail to preserve essential alveolar functions and cannot capture the complex cellular and immune interactions driving viral-bacterial co-infections.

Our lung‑on‑a‑chip model provides a more predictive platform by recreating physiologically relevant alveolar functions, integrating functional vasculature and immune cells to maintain robust barrier integrity. This platform enables realistic investigation of viral–bacterial co‑infections, disease mechanisms, and therapeutic strategies in a human‑relevant context.

Modeling human norovirus infection in the human gut

Human norovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes acute gastroenteritis, has long been difficult to cultivate in vitro due to the absence of physiologically relevant models. This is because the infected cells lack the 3D architecture and sufficient differentiation state found in the in vivo environment.

A stem-cell-derived, perfused gut-on-chip model with integrated immune cells overcomes this challenge by improving epithelial maturation and increased virus titers, resulting in a robust, reproducible norovirus infection model.

Investigating bacterial infections in chronic liver disease

Bacterial infections are a major clinical complication in patients with chronic liver disease. Pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureuscan invade tissue-resident macrophages as a strategy to evade host immune recognition.

Our liver-on-chip model recreates a multicellular, immunocompetent liver environment, enabling detailed investigation of pathogen immune response, barrier functions, and cellular targets under disease-relevant conditions.

This human‑relevant platform supports more predictive studies of bacterial infection mechanisms and therapeutic response.

Gut-on-chip model under hypoxic condition

Maintaining hypoxic conditions is crucial when investigating the pathogenesis of anaerobic pathogens. Traditional 2D cultures are less complex and often suffer from bacterial overgrowth, resulting in reduced long-term stability.

Our immunocompetent gut-on-a-chip model enables the culture of selective microbiota and allows for infection modelling to investigate pathogenicity mechanisms under hypoxic conditions.

Vibrio cholerae infection model in an intestine-on-chip platform

Cholera, caused by the human‑specific pathogen Vibrio cholerae, is transmitted through contaminated water and food and can rapidly become life‑threatening if untreated. Intestinal pathogen colonization and infection depend on quorum‑sensing-regulated virulence mechanisms that are difficult to study in conventional models.

Our immunocompetent gut‑on‑chip infection model provides a human‑relevant platform to investigate quorum‑sensing‑driven pathogenicity, enabling deeper insight into V. cholerae infection dynamics.

Investigating candidiasis in the human gut

Candida albicans is a common commensal of the human microbiota, typically residing in the gut without causing harm. In immunocompromised patients, Candida can shift to a pathogenic state, leading to invasive candidiasis with severe clinical consequences.
Traditional in vitro models lack the complex intestinal architecture and intravenous drug administration routes.

Our gut-on-chip model overcomes these limitations by mimicking the physiological intestinal environment and modelling intravenous drug administration, enabling more realistic studies of host-pathogen interactions and human drug response.

Gut-on-chip model under hypoxic condition

Maintaining hypoxic conditions is crucial for gut microbiome research. The majority of the intestinal microbial community is anaerobic, and traditional aerobic in vitro cultures often fail to capture the microbial diversity.

Our immunocompetent gut-on-a-chip model enables the development of physiologically relevant microbiome and infection models to investigate host-microbiome interactions or pathogen infection mechanisms under hypoxic conditions.

In this case study, the author applies purified toxins from Clostridioides difficile to a gut-on-chip model in our 2-channel chip BC002. The objective is to test this with live bacteria under hypoxic conditions in subsequent studies.