Investigation on Ciliary Functionality of Different Airway Epithelial Cell Lines in Three-Dimensional Cell Culture.

Three-dimensional respiratory tissue models have been generated using, for example, human primary airway epithelial cells (hAEC) or respective cell lines. To investigate ciliopathies, such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, the presence of functional kinocilia is an essential prerequisite. Since access to hAEC of healthy donors is limited, we aimed to identify a respiratory epithelial cell line that is capable to display functional kinocilia on at least 60% of the apical surface.