Tissue-engineered human tonsil models
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development and use of tissue-engineered models of human tonsil to study host:microbe interactions
IRAS ID
340352
Contact name
Claire Turner
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
9 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
In order to study how microbes (bacteria/viruses/fungus) cause infections in humans, we need models of infection that we can use in the lab that as closely mimic natural infection as possible. Human tonsil is a major site of infection for many microbial species, in particular the bacterial pathogens Streptococcus pyogenes (StrepA) or Staphylococcus aureus. It is important that we better understand how they infect tonsils because they can go on to cause severe disease and, with the rise in antibiotic resistance, we need new treatments and potentially a vaccine. We can develop and use infection models generated from human tonsil tissue.
To do this we will collect tonsil tissue from patients undergoing routine surgery and where the tonsil tissue would usually be discarded. There will be no impact on the scheduled surgery and no additional treatments or follow-up from the patients will be required. Mostly we will immediately process the tissue in our research lab to separate out different tonsil cells: tonsil keratinocyte cells which form the surface of the tonsil, or tonsil fibroblast cells which form the layers below the surface. We will grow these cells up in the lab for further use, including to generate our 3D-tissue engineered models of human tonsil whereby we reconstruct a model of natural human tonsil tissue in a controlled and reproducible manner. In some cases, we will also use unprocessed tonsil tissue by directly infecting it with microbes we have cultured in the lab to monitor the infection process over a period of 4 days or less. We may also directly use the tissue for histology (embedding in wax and staining) and examine the tissue under the microscope.
By using surplus tonsil tissue like this, we can further our scientific knowledge of infections in a way that we cannot otherwise achieve.REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EE/0110
Date of REC Opinion
30 May 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion