University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Department of Biomedical Engineering, One University Avenue, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, United States.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2022 Nov 14;8(11):4613-4617. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.1c01380. Epub 2022 Mar 24.
Microbial communities are eubiotic ecosystems that interact dynamically and synergistically with the human body. Imbalances in these interactions may cause dysbiosis by enhancing the occurrence of inflammatory conditions, such as periodontal or inflammatory bowel diseases. However, the mechanisms that lie behind eubiosis-dysbiosis transitions are still unclear and constantly being redefined. While the societal impact of these diseases is steadily increasing, the lack of a clear understanding behind the onset of the inflammatory conditions prevents the proper clinical strategies from being formulated. Although preclinical and clinical models and short-term planar cultures represent superb research tools, they are still lacking human relevance and long-term use. Bioreactors and organs-on-a-chip have attracted interest because of their ability to recreate and sustain the physical, structural, and mechanical features of the native environment, as well as to support long-term coculture of mammalian cells and the microbiome through modulation of pH and oxygen gradients. Existing devices, however, are still under development to sustain the microbiome-host coculture over long periods of time. In this scenario, to understand disease triggers and develop therapeutics, research efforts should command the development of three-dimensional constructs that would allow the investigation of processes underlying the microbial community assembly and how microorganisms influence host traits in both acute and chronic conditions.
微生物群落是与人体动态协同相互作用的共生生态系统。这些相互作用的失衡可能通过增强炎症状态（如牙周炎或炎症性肠病）的发生而导致失调。然而，共生失调转变背后的机制仍不清楚，并且不断被重新定义。尽管这些疾病的社会影响在稳步增加，但由于对炎症状态发生的机制缺乏明确的认识，因此无法制定适当的临床策略。虽然临床前和临床模型以及短期平面培养代表了极好的研究工具，但它们仍然缺乏人类相关性和长期应用。生物反应器和类器官芯片因其能够重现和维持天然环境的物理、结构和机械特征，以及通过调节 pH 值和氧气梯度来支持哺乳动物细胞和微生物组的长期共培养而引起了关注。然而，现有的设备仍在开发中，以维持微生物组 - 宿主共培养的长时间。在这种情况下，为了了解疾病的触发因素并开发治疗方法，研究工作应该需要开发允许研究微生物群落组装背后的过程的三维构建体，以及微生物如何在急性和慢性条件下影响宿主特征。
