A Novel Precision-cut lung slice stretch model using removable inflation materials [bulk RNA-seq]

Lung tissue undergoes stretch-induced differentiation under normal prenatal and postnatal development, and supraphysiological or aberrant stretch responses are known mechanisms of acute lung injury and extracellular matrix (ECM) disruption.

Existing in vitro and ex vivo cyclic mechanical stretch (CMS) models have well-recognized disadvantages, and agarose-inflated precision-cut lung slice (PCLS) models are hindered by retention of agarose in the tissue and by damaging methods of anchoring slices for stretch. Here we present a PCLS system that uses a removable agarose inflation medium and a supportive poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel for embedding, enabling application of CMS to PCLS.