Lung Function
- Laboratory technician:
Advanced ventilator-based measurements enable detailed characterization of lung mechanics, including airway resistance, compliance, and tissue properties, providing sensitive functional readouts of respiratory physiology. The platform supports both terminal and repeated-measurement designs, allowing integration of longitudinal studies with high-resolution endpoint analysis. Challenge-based paradigms, such as bronchoconstrictor-induced airway responsiveness, enable detection of subtle phenotypes and functional reserve. When combined with complementary histological and molecular analyses, these approaches provide a comprehensive framework for translational studies of pulmonary diseases, including asthma, fibrosis, emphysema, and acute lung injury.
Standard services Baseline Lung Mechanics Assessment
The Unit provides standardized measurement of lung mechanical properties in anesthetized animals using controlled ventilation and defined perturbation protocols. These approaches enable quantitative assessment of airway resistance, dynamic and static compliance, and tissue elastance. Different perturbation modes allow separation of central airway resistance from peripheral tissue mechanics, as well as evaluation of inspiratory capacity and pressure–volume relationships. This enables discrimination between airway-driven and parenchymal pathologies, such as bronchoconstriction, fibrosis, or emphysema.
Standard services Airway Responsiveness and Challenge Testing
Airway hyperresponsiveness is assessed using controlled inhalation challenges, typically with bronchoconstrictors such as methacholine. These assays enable evaluation of airway reactivity and functional reserve, providing sensitive detection of pathological changes relevant to asthma and related conditions. Challenge protocols are optimized according to study design, allowing controlled dose–response analysis and integration with baseline lung mechanics measurements.
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Project Specific Assays Longitudinal Respiratory Phenotyping Pipelines
Customized study designs combine repeated lung function measurements with disease progression and intervention timelines, enabling high-resolution tracking of respiratory phenotypes and therapeutic response.
Project Specific Assays Pulmonary Disease Models and Functional Readouts
The Unit supports functional characterization of established models of pulmonary disease, including asthma (OVA and house dust mite), emphysema (elastase-induced), pulmonary fibrosis (bleomycin-induced), and acute lung injury (LPS-induced). Functional lung readouts provide quantitative endpoints for disease severity and treatment efficacy.
Project Specific Assays Integrated Multimodal Respiratory Analysis
Lung function data can be integrated with histopathology, immune profiling, and molecular analyses to provide comprehensive characterization of disease mechanisms. This multimodal approach enables interpretation of functional changes in the context of structural and inflammatory processes.
Project Specific Assays Inhalation-Based Drug Delivery and Functional Readouts
The Unit supports aerosol-based delivery of pharmacological agents directly to the respiratory system under controlled ventilation conditions. This approach enables precise, localized administration of compounds and real-time assessment of their functional effects on lung mechanics and airway responsiveness. Inhalation-based workflows are particularly relevant for preclinical evaluation of respiratory therapeutics, including bronchodilators, anti-inflammatory compounds, and targeted pulmonary drug delivery strategies, providing a direct link between intervention and functional outcome.
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Technology platform
Lung unit was upgraded with the support from OP RDE project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/18_046/0015861 CCP Infrastructure Upgrade II in the years 2020 – 2022 and currently it is being upgraded from the OP JAC project CZ.02.01.01/00/23_015/0008189 Upgrade of the large research infrastructure CCP III.
