Rebuilding the gut: Decoding enteric pathogenesis using next-generation human in vitro models.

Air-liquid interface cultures and gut-on-a-chip microfluidic systems both recreate human GI mucosal features and enable detection of enteric pathogen-host mechanisms not seen in traditional models.

• Why it matters: Traditional in vitro and in vivo models often miss how human GI physiology shapes infective strategies, limiting insight into enteric pathogenesis and preclinical evaluation.
• What they did: The work evaluates ALI and GoC next-generation in vitro models that reproduce mucus, crypt-villus architecture, and biomechanical forces, reviewing applications across bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections.
• The result: ALI is highlighted for mucus-focused, cost-effective studies, while GoC uniquely captures peristalsis and luminal flow, and both support complex co-culturing for studying pathogen-host-commensal dynamics.