Human Nasal Epithelial Cells (hNECs ) Generated by Air-Liquid Interface (ALI) Culture as a Model System for Studying the Pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2.

The nasal epithelium lining the human upper airway is the primary portal of entry for several respiratory pathogens, including the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we describe in detail methods for in vitro ALI differentiation of primary cells collected from human donors, to obtain differentiated hNECs. This can serve as a physiologically relevant model to investigate various aspects of host-pathogen responses to SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging respiratory viruses.