Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36434666›Full record

ArticleMicrobiome2022

Vaginal microbiome-host interactions modeled in a human vagina-on-a-chip.

Gautam Mahajan, Erin Doherty, Tania To, Arlene Sutherland, Jennifer Grant, Abidemi Junaid, Aakanksha Gulati, Nina LoGrande, Zohreh Izadifar, Sanjay Sharma Timilsina and 10 more

Open access · goldAbstract readVideo-Audio Media
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Microbiome, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
87citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
14.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

87 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 120 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
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  17. Fiber-Reinforced Composites for Vaginal Tissue Engineering Applications.Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A · 2026
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27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Gautam MahajanWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Erin DohertyWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Tania ToWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Arlene SutherlandWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Jennifer GrantWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Abidemi JunaidWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Aakanksha GulatiWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Nina LoGrandeWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Zohreh IzadifarWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Sanjay Sharma TimilsinaWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Viktor HorváthWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Roberto PlebaniWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Michael FranceInstitute for Genome Sciences and Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Indriati Hood-PishchanyDivision of Infectious Diseases and Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA.
Seth Rakoff-NahoumDivision of Infectious Diseases and Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA.
Douglas S KwonRagon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Girija GoyalWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Rachelle Prantil-BaunWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Jacques RavelInstitute for Genome Sciences and Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Donald E IngberWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. don.ingber@wyss.harvard.edu.
Harvard University · USBoston Children's Hospital · USUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore · US

Funding

Programmable benchtop bioreactors for scalable eco-evolutionary dynamics of the human microbiomeR01AI171100 · NIAID · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI KHALIL, AHMAD SAMIR, RAKOFF-NAHOUM, SETH · 2022 to 2025
$4.1M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI171100
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA dominance of non-iners Lactobacillus species in the vaginal microbiome is optimal and strongly associated with gynecological and obstetric health, while the presence of diverse obligate or facultative anaerobic bacteria and a paucity in Lactobacillus species, similar to communities found in bacterial vaginosis (BV), is considered non-optimal and associated with adverse health outcomes. Various therapeutic strategies are being explored to modulate the composition of the vaginal microbiome; however, there is no human model that faithfully reproduces the vaginal epithelial microenvironment for preclinical validation of potential therapeutics or testing hypotheses about vaginal epithelium-microbiome interactions.

resultsHere, we describe an organ-on-a-chip (organ chip) microfluidic culture model of the human vaginal mucosa (vagina chip) that is lined by hormone-sensitive, primary vaginal epithelium interfaced with underlying stromal fibroblasts, which sustains a low physiological oxygen concentration in the epithelial lumen. We show that the Vagina Chip can be used to assess colonization by optimal L. crispatus consortia as well as non-optimal Gardnerella vaginalis-containing consortia, and to measure associated host innate immune responses. Co-culture and growth of the L. crispatus consortia on-chip was accompanied by maintenance of epithelial cell viability, accumulation of D- and L-lactic acid, maintenance of a physiologically relevant low pH, and down regulation of proinflammatory cytokines. In contrast, co-culture of G. vaginalis-containing consortia in the vagina chip resulted in epithelial cell injury, a rise in pH, and upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines.

conclusionThis study demonstrates the potential of applying human organ chip technology to create a preclinical model of the human vaginal mucosa that can be used to better understand interactions between the vaginal microbiome and host tissues, as well as to evaluate the safety and efficacy of live biotherapeutics products. Video Abstract.

Indexed as

MicrobiotaVaginosis, BacterialCytokinesFemaleHumansLab-On-A-Chip DevicesPregnancyVaginaCytokines

Identifiers

PMID36434666
PMCPMC9701078
OpenAlexW4310295900

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.