Reconstructed Human Airway Epithelium
Living pseudostratified, ciliated human airway tissue cultured at an air-liquid interface.
| Category | Ready-to-Use 3D Tissue Models |
|---|---|
| Unit | One kit of tissue inserts (kit size supplier-defined) or one insert |
| Lead time | 1-4 weeks against the supplier's production calendar |
| Pricing | By quotation |
| Provenance | Partner manufactured |
| Data current | 2026-09-01 |
Description
Differentiated human tracheal/bronchial epithelium grown at an air-liquid interface, producing a pseudostratified layer with beating cilia and mucus secretion. It is the standard non-animal model for inhalation toxicology, respiratory infection, aerosolised drug delivery and airway inflammation. MatTek lists EpiAirway alongside EpiNasal and EpiAlveolar in its human tissue model line and offers several of the associated assays as contract services rather than product. The cold chain and lot structure follow the same centralised model as the epidermal tissue — produced in weekly lots, shipped living and cold, with a short shelf life on arrival — so orders must be placed against a production calendar. As with all tissue in this category the geometry and insert format are fixed; what varies is tissue composition, donor background where available, and media formulation. No public pricing is published.
Why this is hard to buy today
Buyers cannot tell from the public pages whether they should buy the tissue or buy the assay as a service, and the two routes have completely different costs, timelines and in-house skill requirements.
What you must specify
A quote cannot be produced without these. Anything you leave open, a supplier will assume — usually expensively.
| # | Parameter |
|---|---|
| 01 | Airway region (nasal / tracheobronchial / alveolar) |
| 02 | Number of tissues and lot structure |
| 03 | Insert format and plate compatibility |
| 04 | Donor background (healthy vs diseased, e.g. asthmatic or COPD) where offered |
| 05 | Culture age at shipment / degree of ciliation required |
| 06 | Media variant |
| 07 | Whether the buyer wants tissue only or the assay run as a service |
Quality documentation
Typically available with this item. What actually ships is confirmed on the quotation, per supplier.
- Lot-level release testing by the manufacturer
- Barrier integrity (TEER) specification per supplier datasheet
- Sterility checks on production media
- Pathogen screening per supplier protocol
- Histology / ciliation specification
Candidate suppliers
Organisations we have identified as capable. Listing does not imply a partnership, an endorsement, or that they have agreed to quote.
| Organisation | Basis for inclusion |
|---|---|
| MatTek (Sartorius) | Ships living, metabolically active 3D human epithelial tissue. EpiDerm technical specification PDF (2025) confirms: standard EPI-200 kit = 24 tissues; 9 mm and 22 mm inserts plus 96-well HTS; shipped at 4 C on medium-supplemented agarose gels; shipment every Monday; Tuesday AM FedEx priority delivery in US; 4-day shelf life including transit. No public price. |
| MIMETAS | OrganoReady = 'perfused ready-to-use tissues in the OrganoPlate platform, prepared by our experts', 40 or 64 tissue models per plate, 'no cell and ECM handling needed'. Pricing behind 'Discuss your needs'. |
Sources
doc WW-TM-87900 · rev 2026-09-01 · research use only · prices indicative and not binding until quoted in writing