{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T19:32:10Z","timestamp":1771875130702,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,6]],"date-time":"2025-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1754438400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Deutsche F\u00f6rderungsgesllschaft zur Mukoviszidoseforschung e.V."}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common hereditary lung disease in Caucasians, is caused by dysfunction of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). We evaluated CFTR function using a newly developed Ussing chamber system, the Multi Trans Epithelial Current Clamp (MTECC), in an in vitro model of human airway epithelia. Air\u2013liquid interface (ALI) cultures were established from nasal brushings of healthy controls (HC) and CF patients with biallelic CFTR variants. ALI layer thickness was similar between groups (HC: 62 \u00b1 13 \u00b5m; CF: 55 \u00b1 9 \u00b5m). Immunofluorescence showed apical CFTR expression in HC, but reduced or absent signal in CF cultures. MTECC enabled continuous measurement of transepithelial resistance (Rt), potential difference (PD), and conductance (Gt). Gt was significantly reduced in CF cultures compared to HC (0.825 \u00b1 0.024 vs. \u22120.054 \u00b1 0.016 mS\/cm2), indicating impaired cAMP-inducible ion transport by CFTR. Treatment of CF cultures with elexacaftor, tezacaftor, and ivacaftor (Trikafta\u00ae) increased Gt, reflecting partial restoration of CFTR function. These findings demonstrate the utility of MTECC in detecting functional differences in CFTR activity and support its use as a platform for evaluating CFTR-modulating therapies. Our model may contribute to the development of personalized treatment strategies for CF patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26157618","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,6]],"date-time":"2025-08-06T15:09:53Z","timestamp":1754492993000},"page":"7618","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessing CFTR Function and Epithelial Morphology in Human Nasal Respiratory Cell Cultures: A Combined Immunofluorescence and Electrophysiological Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Roshani Narayan","family":"Singh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149 Muenster, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vanessa","family":"Mete","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149 Muenster, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Willy","family":"van Driessche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EP Design, Tervuursesteenweg 154, B-3060 Bertem, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0282-6765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heymut","family":"Omran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149 Muenster, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-4044-1695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wolf-Michael","family":"Weber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149 Muenster, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2053-4379","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"J\u00f6rg","family":"Grosse-Onnebrink","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, 48149 Muenster, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1038\/s41572-024-00538-6","article-title":"Cystic Fibrosis","volume":"10","author":"Mall","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nat. 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