NOTOX

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

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'NOTOX will develop and establish a spectrum of systems biological tools including experimental and computational methods for i) organotypic human cell cultures suitable for long term toxicity testing and ii) the identification and analysis of pathways of toxicological relevance. NOTOX will initially use available human HepaRG and primary liver cells as well as mouse small intestine cultures in 3D systems to generate own experimental data to develop and validate predictive mathematical and bioinformatic models characterizing long term toxicity responses. Cellular activities will be monitored continuously by comprehensive analysis of released metabolites, peptides and proteins and by estimation of metabolic fluxes using 13C labelling techniques (fluxomics). At selected time points a part of the cells will be removed for in-depth structural (3D-optical and electron microscopy tomography), transcriptomic, epigenomic, metabolomic, proteomic and fluxomic characterizations. When applicable, cells derived from human stem cells (hESC or iPS) and available human organ simulating systems or even a multi-organ platform developed in SCREENTOX and HEMIBIO will be investigated using developed methods. Together with curated literature and genomic data these toxicological data will be organised in a toxicological database (cooperation with DETECTIVE, COSMOS and TOXBANK). Physiological data including metabolism of test compounds will be incorporated into large-scale computer models that are based on material balancing and kinetics. Various “-omics” data and 3D structural information from organotypic cultures will be integrated using correlative bioinformatic tools. These data also serve as a basis for large scale mathematical models. The overall objectives are to identify cellular and molecular signatures allowing prediction of long term toxicity, to design experimental systems for the identification of predictive endpoints and to integrate these into causal computer models.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU project is developing experimental systems and models to replace animals in testing for toxicity effects of new cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics affects all beauty and personal care products, from make-up to soap and toothpaste. Therefore, there is a need for new toxicity testing methods for cosmetics that don't use animals.

With EU funding, the project http://www.notox-sb.eu (NOTOX) (Predicting long-term toxic effects using computer models based on systems characterization of organotypic cultures) aims to develop novel methods based on cell culture and computer modelling to replace animal testing for long-term toxicity testing. The NOTOX project will establish a range of experimental and computational methods to predict toxicity of cosmetic or any other compounds in humans.

NOTOX has already established a system to cultivate 3D 'organs' to mimic the human liver, called HepaRG. Using this cellular model, researchers have completed the first toxicity tests, monitoring biological and structural changes to the liver cells.

The project has also coupled the HepaRG model with other cell types to more accurately mimic a biological system. Further work to improve the accuracy of HepaRG focuses on the 3D tissue structure at the cellular level.

NOTOX has also collected data on adverse outcomes from a large number of experimental systems. This data is incorporated into models of long-term toxicity, along with data from various genomic, proteomic and transcriptomic analyses.

Developing alternative methods for cosmetics safety testing will have a major impact on the cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Most importantly, it heralds the end of inhumane animal testing in the cosmetics industry.