Biofilms have been studied for decades using various in vitro models, but it remains debatable whether such in vitro biofilms actually resemble in vivo biofilms in chronic infections.
In silico models are theoretical models that lack the experimentally-derived rich information associated with in vivo or in vitro models, but they are a very high-throughput approach, which is much less time-consuming and costly than in vivo and in vitro approaches.
There is, and always will be, a gap between human biology in vivo and its representation by surrogate in vitro models, but unlike the limited genotypic variation represented by common immortalized cell lines, HRBECs more closely reflect the diversity of genetics, exogenous hormone use, life events such as pregnancy, etc. of women encountered in clinical practice.
The DCs used in our in vitro model express CX3CR1, but their migration was not abrogated by pre-treatment with its ligand fractalkine (data not shown).
It is important to note that the gene set derived from an in vitro model, the wound response, but not the wound-response gene expression signature itself, was adapted to derive a gene expression pattern predictive of a local recurrence in patients who were treated with BCT.
When interpreting our results with attention towards the scientific value and its importance for possible future medical application one should consider the positive findings made are based on a simplified in vitro model of TBI similar but still distant from the situation in the patients seen and treated every day.
As a result, many attempts have been made to develop a reproducible in vitro model system to culture NoV, but none has yet proved successful (13, 30 – 30 ).
Both variants, F941V and G1145S, were functionally damaging, as measured by an in vitro model of CR3-mediated phagocytosis, but the common A858V (rs1143683) variant was functionally neutral.
Overall these results attests to the validity of the EOC cell lines as an in vitro model for studying gene candidates but point out that some genes may be influenced by microenvironment, a factor that should be taken into consideration when investigating the molecular biology of specific genes.
In our in vitro model, M. abscessus induced cell necrosis in untreated cells but not cell apoptosis.
