Novel Platform for Target Discovery and Validation for Chronic Lung Disease Using Personalized 3D Lung Tissue Units

Principal Investigator: 

Renat Shaykhiev, Associate Professor of Medicine

Summary

  • Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are chronic and disabling lung diseases that cause significant lung damage
  • Currently, no disease modifying therapies exist for IPF and COPD and no current therapies effectively target distal lung tissue remodeling and prevent disease progression (see figure)
  • A large barrier to drug discovery for IPF and COPD is the lack of models capturing the pathology of disease in a tissue specific context
  • Dr. Shaykhiev has deep domain expertise in lung biology and disease and in patient-derived models
  • The Shaykhiev lab has developed novel 3D-Lung Tissue Units (LTUs) that can accurately recapitulate patient specific disease conditions and enable parallel evaluation of pathological processes occurring in different lung regions

Technical Overview

The 3D-LTUs developed by the Shaykhiev lab exhibit three unique components missing in existing humanized models:

  • Native histological arrangements with preserved airway and alveolar architecture
  • Preserved tissue and disease specific cellular ecosystems such as tissue specific regenerative niches and region-specific microenvironments
  • Patient specific disease defining lesions

These patient specific unique 3D-LTUs can also be maintained in 3D matrix supported culture for over four weeks.

Over the past five years, the lab has bio-banked > 200 samples of chronic lung disease and plans to establish 3D-LTUs from patients with chronic lung disease to better understand mechanisms of inflammation and tissue remodeling.

Market Opportunity

  • Novel, patient specific 3D-LTU models developed by the Shaykhiev lab offers an unprecedented approach to understanding underlying patho—physiological processes that contribute to disease development and progression
  • These 3D-LTUs will enable highly accurate target identification for novel drugs as well as the ability to validate drugs in a patient specific context and across a wide variety of disease presentations

Partnering Opportunity

Weill Cornell Medicine is seeking a strong industrial partner with whom to collaborate around a dedicated program aimed at developing a biobank of 3D-LTUs as well as testing novel therapeutic modalities for chronic lung disease

Illustrated example of lung damage in IPF and COPD

Figure 1: Illustrated example of lung damage in IPF and COPD (Source).

Contact Information

Donna Rounds, Ph.D

For additional information please contact

Donna Rounds
Associate Director, Business Development and Licensing
Phone: (646) 962-7044
Email: djr296@cornell.edu