Cell culture liquid/gas-phase chamber devices and related methods, and exemplary use for measuring accumulation of gas-phase nitric oxide in differentiated cultures of normal and cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cells

A method of producing gas-phase component releases of cultured cells in response to stimuli, comprising:

• transferring at least one transwell containing cultured cells from at least one cultured cell growth tray to an air-liquid partition for a liquid/gas-phase chamber device;
• disposing stimuli liquid into a liquid compartment of an interior chamber of a chamber body of the liquid/gas-phase chamber device formed by the air-liquid partition disposed in an internal chamber of the chamber body the air-liquid partition configured to interactively separate the internal chamber into the liquid compartment and a gas compartment;
• inserting the air-liquid partition with the at least one transwell disposed therein into the internal chamber of the chamber body to place at least one membrane of the at least one transwell in contact with the stimuli liquid disposed in the liquid compartment of the internal chamber of the chamber body;
• sealing the internal chamber with a lid received by a top portion of the chamber body forming at least a portion of the gas compartment of the internal chamber to provide an air-tight chamber body;
• closing a first valve in fluid contact with the gas compartment of the internal chamber of the chamber body, and a second valve in fluid contact with the gas compartment of the internal chamber of the chamber body;
• and
• incubating the cultured cells in the sealed internal chamber of the sealed chamber body for a defined period of time to allow the cultured cells to release a metabolic product in the stimuli liquid in the liquid compartment and release a metabolic product in the gas compartment, in response to exposure of the cultured cells to the stimuli liquid.