3D Tissue Models as an Effective Tool for Studying Viruses and Vaccine Development

Abstract

The recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has researchers working tirelessly to understand the virus' pathogenesis and develop an effective vaccine. The urgent need for rapid development and deployment of such a vaccine has illustrated the limitations of current practices, and it has highlighted the need for alternative models for early screening of such technologies. Traditional 2D cell culture does not accurately capture the effects of a physiologically relevant environment as they fail to promote appropriate cell-cell and cell-environment interactions. This inability to capture the intricacies of the in vivo microenvironment prevents 2D cell cultures from demonstrating the necessary properties of native tissues required for the standard infection mechanisms of the virus, thus contributing the high failure rate of drug discovery and vaccine development. 3D cell culture models can bridge the gap between conventional cell culture and in vivo models. Methods such as 3D bioprinting, spheroids, organoids, organ-on-chip platform, and rotating wall vessel bioreactors offer ways to produce physiologically relevant models by mimicking in vivo microarchitecture, chemical gradients, cell–cell interactions and cell–environment interactions. The field of viral biology currently uses 3D cell culture models to understand the interactions between viruses and host cells, which is crucial knowledge for vaccine development. In this review, we discuss how 3D cell culture models have been used to investigate disease pathologies for coronaviruses and other viruses such as Zika Virus, Hepatitis, and Influenza, and how they may apply to drug discovery and vaccine development.

Use of Human Lung Tissue Models for Screening of Drugs against SARS-CoV-2 Infection

“…The development and use of 3D tissue models (MicroPhysiological Systems, or MPS) has increased significantly over the last 20 years, with commercial companies providing a range of models corresponding to a variety of tissues [16]. These tissue models have the advantage of incorporating a range of cell types into a more representative structure of human tissues, allowing for the complex interplay between different cell types to occur [17].…”

Bioinformatics Predicted Linear Epitopes of the Major Coat Protein of the Beet Yellows Virus for Detection of the Virus in the Cell Extract of the Infected Plant

“…In silico models for predicting 3D structures of proteins [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 16 ] and viral capsid [ 17 , 18 ] have been successfully adopted in the last decades. Homology modelling has proven to be the approach that generates a reliable 3D model of a protein from its amino acid sequence.…”

3D engineered tissue models for studying human-specific infectious viral diseases

“…The 3D engineered tissue models allows for the in vivo -like viral exposure via diffusion- and perfusion-mediated transport, demonstrating the in vivo -relevance of viral exposure in 3D tissue models [ 93 ]. Using these models, the mechanisms underlying infection were analyzed and drugs were screened; these data are being utilized to develop therapeutic agents and vaccines [ 31 , 50 , 94 , 95 ].…”