RESEARCH PROJECTS

 

 

 

 GENOTRACE (2014-2016)

 

 

Project: Real time in vitro evaluation of carcinogenic potential of contaminants.

Among the current short-term assays developed to assess DNA damage induced by a physical or chemical agent, the micronucleus assay (MN) represents a reliable and precise method that is already validated as a regulatory test in a battery of predictive tests for carcinogenesis. The Genotrace project aims at bringing major technological innovations to develop a new MN assay, that will allow to monitor both dynamically and in real time the production of chromosome damages and the signal of a genotoxic reporter on HepaRG™ cells. The developed in vitro MN assay will be adapted to a medium- to high throughput straightforward readable assay, thanks to the implementation of high content screening imaging protocols and the development of an image analysis and classification-based pipeline. The assay will bring new capacities to the classic MN assay and may lead to breakthroughs in the prevention and/or the diagnosis of exposure to genotoxicants present in the environment, food or future drug candidates.

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Project: The objective of this European funded project was the development of alternatives that replaced the need for animal experiments.

The methods developed have provided reliable in vitro assays for use in screening chemicals for potential genotoxic and cytotoxic effects,and have thus helped to limit the amount of animal experimentation that was to be carried out - notably, in connection with the EC policy on the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH). The methods were subject to rigorous testing in order to meet international validation standards and to be accepted by industrial users and regulatory authorities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project: Predicting long-term toxic effects using computer models based on systems characterization of organotypic cultures.

NOTOX is one of the building block projects of the European research initiative SEURAT (safety evaluation ultimately replacing animal testing) funded by EU-FP7 HEALTH programme and the European Cosmetics Association (Cosmetics Europe). The total funding for the cluster projects is 50 million €. This initiative with six projects as building blocks aims at the common strategy “towards the replacement of current repeated dose systemic toxicity testing in human safety assessment”.

 

 

Project: Development of in vitro test methods for identification of carcinogenic substances.

The aim of the FP6 project carcinoGENOMICS was to develop in vitro methods for assessing the carcinogenic potential of compounds, as an alternative to rodent bioassays for genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. The major goal was to develop a battery of mechanism-based in vitro tests accounting for various modes of carcinogenic action.
These tests have been designed to cover major target organs for carcinogenic action e.g. the liver, the lung and the kidney.

 

 

 

Project: Optimisation of liver and intestine in vitro models for pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics studies.

The main aim of this project was to provide optimised established protocols and experimental in vitro models for testing intestinal and liver absorption, metabolism and toxicity of molecules of pharmacological interest. The added value of the project was to provide optimised sequential procedures, easily amenable to validation studies for screening and testing of new drugs, possibly be miniaturized and automated technology. The direct participation of SMEs in the research activities has assured that those procedures also fit with the requirements of industrial applications