ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2022-01-13DOI: 10.14573/altex.2109011
Charlotte Deschamps, Sylvain Denis, Delphine Humbert, Jürgen Zentek, Nathalie Priymenko, Emmanuelle Apper, Stéphanie Blanquet-Diot
{"title":"In vitro models of the canine digestive tract as an alternative to in vivo assays: Advances and current challenges.","authors":"Charlotte Deschamps, Sylvain Denis, Delphine Humbert, Jürgen Zentek, Nathalie Priymenko, Emmanuelle Apper, Stéphanie Blanquet-Diot","doi":"10.14573/altex.2109011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2109011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dogs occupy a full place in the family, and their well-being is of paramount importance to their owners. Digestion, a complex process involving physicochemical, mechanical, and microbial parameters, plays a central role in maintaining canine health. As in vivo studies in dogs are increasingly restricted by ethical, regulatory, societal, and cost pressures, an alternative option is the use of in vitro models simulating the different compartments of the canine gastrointestinal tract. This review introduces digestion and gut microbiota as key factors in dog nutrition and health under both healthy and diseased conditions (obesity and inflammatory bowel disease) and highlights similarities and differences between the human and canine digestive tract and processes. We provide the first in-depth description of currently available models of the canine digestive tract, discuss technical and scientific challenges that need to be addressed, and introduce potential applications of in vitro gut models in the food and veterinary fields. Even if the development of some in vitro models is still limited by a lack of in vivo data in dogs that is necessary for relevant configuration and validation, translation of long-term expertise on human in vitro gut models to dogs opens avenues for model optimization and adaptation to specific canine digestive conditions associated with various dog ages, sizes, breeds and/or diets, in both physiological and diseased states.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"235–257"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39699983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2021-09-28DOI: 10.14573/altex.2102121
Renxiang Chen, Yun-Tien Lin, Albert J Fornace, Heng-Hong Li
{"title":"A high-throughput and highly automated genotoxicity screening assay.","authors":"Renxiang Chen, Yun-Tien Lin, Albert J Fornace, Heng-Hong Li","doi":"10.14573/altex.2102121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2102121","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The increasing number of compounds under development and chemicals in commerce that require safety assessments pose a serious challenge for regulatory agencies worldwide. In vitro screening using toxicogenomic biomarkers has been proposed as a first-tier screen in chemical assessment and has been endorsed internationally. We previously developed, evaluated, and validated an in vitro transcriptomic biomarker responsive to DNA damage-inducing (DDI) agents, namely TGx-DDI, for genotoxicity testing in human cells and demonstrated the feasibility of using TGx-DDI in a medium-throughput, cell-based genotoxicity testing system by implementing this biomarker with the Nanostring nCounter system. In this current study, we took advantage of Nanostring nCounter Plexset technology to develop a highly automated, multiplexed, and high-throughput genotoxicity testing assay, designated the TGx-DDI Plexset assay, which can increase the screening efficiency eight-fold compared to standard nCounter technology while decreasing the hands-on time. We demonstrate the high-throughput capability of this assay by eliminating concentration determination and RNA extraction steps without compromising the specificity and sensitivity of TGx-DDI. Thus, we propose that this simple, highly automated, multiplexed high-throughput pipeline can be widely used in chemical screening and assessment.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"71-81"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39491409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2021-10-22DOI: 10.14573/altex.2107211
M Sue Marty, Amanda K Andrus, Katherine A Groff
{"title":"Animal metrics: Tracking contributions of new approach methods to reduced animal use.","authors":"M Sue Marty, Amanda K Andrus, Katherine A Groff","doi":"10.14573/altex.2107211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2107211","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many companies and global regulatory programs have expressed the intent to move away from in vivo animal testing to new approach methods (NAMs) as part of product safety assessments. NAMs, which include non-animal approaches for testing and assessment – from computer-based modeling to in chemico or in vitro models – allow faster data generation with potentially greater relevance to humans while avoiding animal use. To monitor progress implementing NAMs, each organization first must define what is in scope, starting with the definition of “animal” (e.g., mammals, vertebrates) and applicable studies (e.g., animals used for “in-house” experiments, at contract research organizations, as part of environmental monitoring). Next, organizations must establish baseline animal use, including defined rules for inclusion/ exclusion of animals that ensure consistency in future assessments. Lastly, organizations must establish metrics for animal savings based on the utility of NAM data. This paper presents one approach to establish “animal use” metrics in a toxicology program at The Dow Chemical Company. The premise of our program is that most NAM information has value for animal savings, but the value depends on how data are used (e.g., research and development, screening, or regulatory requirements) and the level of certainty for internal decision-making. This manuscript provides metrics on the impact of NAMs, allowing a quantitative assessment of animal use numbers over time, accountability for resources spent on NAM development, and identification of areas where NAM development is still needed. This approach can be refined for use at other organizations.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"95-112"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39539641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2021-08-02DOI: 10.14573/altex.2004021
Julia Ortmann, Rolf Altenburger, Stefan Scholz, Till Luckenbach
{"title":"Photomotor response data analysis approach to assess chemical neurotoxicity with the zebrafish embryo.","authors":"Julia Ortmann, Rolf Altenburger, Stefan Scholz, Till Luckenbach","doi":"10.14573/altex.2004021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2004021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The photomotor response (PMR) of zebrafish embryos, a light pulse-triggered undirected movement, is known to be altered by neuroactive chemicals. Here, we developed an approach for data analysis of the distribution of PMR movement activities along the time axis; differences between treatment and respective controls are expressed by an aggregated value integrating the time-resolved density of the movement parameter as a measure for a chemically elicited PMR effect. Logistic concentration-PMR effect relationships were modeled for neuroactive test compounds with different modes of action (acetylcholinesterase inhibition, activation and inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels); 50% effect concentrations (EC50) were in the low to medium μM range (EC50 < 10 μM for flucythrinate, esfenvalerate, azinphos-methyl, propoxur; EC50 > 10 μM for tricaine). Modulation of movement activities in different phases of the PMR (i.e., “fingerprint”) by neuroactive test compounds varied across concentrations, showing that mode of action-specific PMR fingerprints are also concentration-dependent. Above concentrations causing 10% lethality (LC10; 48 h), 3,4-dichloroaniline caused movement inhibition. This substance presumably is not neuroactive; its effect on the PMR therefore is considered a secondary toxic effect. Quantitative morphological examinations of chemically exposed embryos showed that malformations occurred only above PMR effect concentrations, indicating that changes in the PMR were not due to such indirect effects. The PMR assay will provide a useful measure in ecotoxicological risk assessment of neuroactive chemicals with zebrafish embryos and could potentially be used to infer acute fish toxicity levels from PMR effect concentrations of neurotoxic compounds.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"82-94"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39288637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.14573/altex.2112202
Katarzyna S Kopanska, Markus Rimann
{"title":"Cross-industrial applications of organotypic models.","authors":"Katarzyna S Kopanska, Markus Rimann","doi":"10.14573/altex.2112202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2112202","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent advances in microphysiological systems (MPS) promise a global paradigm shift in drug development, diagnostics, disease prevention, and therapy. The expectation is that these systems will model healthy and various diseased stages and disease progression to predict toxicity, immunogenicity, ADME profiles, and treatment efficacies. MPS will provide unprecedented human-like physiological properties of in vitro models, enabling their routine application in the pharma industry and thus reducing drug development costs by lowering the attrition rate of compounds. We showcased MPS application diversity across different industries during the TEDD Annual Meeting on 14th October 2021 in Wädenswil, Switzerland. The goal was to promote cross-sectoral collaboration of academia and industry to further pave the way for developing next-generation MPS based on 3D cell culture, organoid, and organ-on-chip technology and their widespread exploitation. To enable visionary projects and radical innovations, we covered multidisciplinary fields and connected different industry sectors, like pharma, medtech, biotech, cosmetics, diagnostics, fragrances, and food, with each other.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"155-158"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39823748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.14573/altex.2207071
Sebastian Eggert, Joachim Wiest, Jessica Rosolowski, Tilo Weber
{"title":"Practical workshop on replacing fetal bovine serum (FBS) in life science research: From theory into practice.","authors":"Sebastian Eggert, Joachim Wiest, Jessica Rosolowski, Tilo Weber","doi":"10.14573/altex.2207071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2207071","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"712-713"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40659551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2021-11-11DOI: 10.14573/altex.2108241
Diane Ramsden, David G Belair, Saket Agarwal, Patrik Andersson, Sara Humphreys, Deidre A Dalmas, Simone H Stahl, Chris Maclauchlin, Joseph A Cichocki
{"title":"Leveraging microphysiological systems to address challenges encountered during development of oligonucleotide therapeutics.","authors":"Diane Ramsden, David G Belair, Saket Agarwal, Patrik Andersson, Sara Humphreys, Deidre A Dalmas, Simone H Stahl, Chris Maclauchlin, Joseph A Cichocki","doi":"10.14573/altex.2108241","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2108241","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Oligonucleotide therapeutics (ONTs) encompass classes of medicines that selectively target and potentially ameliorate previously untreatable and often rare diseases. Several unique classes of ONTs provide versatility, enabling direct modulation of gene expression by virtue of Watson-Crick base pairing or modulation of cell signaling through structural mimicry or interference with protein-receptor interactions. Due to a lack of suitable in vitro models capable of recapitulating or predicting in vivo effects of ONTs, their discovery and optimization has relied heavily on animal studies for predicting efficacy and safety in humans. Since ONTs often lack cross-species activity, animal models with genetic humanization and/or species-specific surrogate ONTs are often required. Human microphysiological systems (MPS) offer an opportunity to reduce the use of animals and may enable evaluation of drug mechanisms, optimization of cell and tissue targeting ligands or delivery vehicles, and characterization of pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), and safety of candidate ONTs. The lack of published examples for MPS applications with ONT demonstrates the need for a focused effort to characterize and build confidence in their utility. The goals of this review are to summarize the current landscape of ONTs and highlight potential opportunities and challenges for application of MPS during ONT discovery and development. In addition, this review aims to raise awareness with ONT drug developers and regulatory authorities on the potential impact of MPS with respect to characterizing pharmacology, ADME, and toxicity and to educate MPS platform developers on unique design attributes needed to fully appreciate MPS advantages in ONT development.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"273–296"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39614168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01DOI: 10.14573/altex.2111151
Surat Parvatam
{"title":"Designing a national strategy to enable human-relevant research in India: A multistakeholder roundtable meeting report.","authors":"Surat Parvatam","doi":"10.14573/altex.2111151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2111151","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the past few years, there has been a substantial increase in research and initiatives towards human-relevant technologies in India, particularly the use and development of microphysiological systems models in India. However, this rise has also been accompanied by significant roadblocks in the availability of infrastructure, training and education programs, supply chain issues, and lack of funding. A recent meeting between technology developers in academia and industry had led to suggestions to address these limitations. To take forward these suggestions, a first-of-its-kind multi-stakeholder meeting was held between participants from the Indian government and regulatory bodies, policy-makers, pharma companies, and academia. Several recommendations were proposed by the government and regulatory bodies to address the current limitations to developing MPS technologies in India. We end with strategies to achieve the proposed recommendations and envision that these initiatives would commence in the coming few months. This would assist in achieving the proposed goal of developing India as a key player in the development and usage of human-relevant technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"151-153"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39823746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2022-01-19DOI: 10.14573/altex.2108301
Ans Punt, Jochem Louisse, Karsten Beekmann, Nicole Pinckaers, Eric Fabian, Bennard Van Ravenzwaay, Paul L Carmichael, Ian Sorrell, Thomas E Moxon
{"title":"Predictive performance of next generation human physiologically based kinetic (PBK) models based on in vitro and in silico input data.","authors":"Ans Punt, Jochem Louisse, Karsten Beekmann, Nicole Pinckaers, Eric Fabian, Bennard Van Ravenzwaay, Paul L Carmichael, Ian Sorrell, Thomas E Moxon","doi":"10.14573/altex.2108301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2108301","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The goal of the present study was to assess the predictive performance of a generic human physiologically based kinetic (PBK) model based on in vitro and in silico input data and the effect of using different input approaches for chemical parameterization on those predictions. For this purpose, a dataset was created of 38,772 Cmax predictions for 44 compounds by applying different combinations of in vitro and in silico approaches for chemical parameterization, and these predicted Cmax values were compared to reported in vivo data. Best results were achieved when the hepatic clearance was parameterized based on in vitro (i.e., hepatocytes or liver S9) measured intrinsic clearance values, the method of Rodgers and Rowland for calculating tissue:plasma partition coefficients, and the method of Lobell and Sivarajah for calculating the fraction unbound in plasma. With these parameters, the median Cmax values of 34 out of the 44 compounds were predicted within 5-fold of the observed Cmax, and the Cmax values of 19 compounds were predicted within 2-fold. The median Cmax values of 10 compounds were more than 5-fold overestimated. Underestimations (> 5-fold) did not occur. A comparison of the current generic PBK model structure with chemical-specific PBK models available in literature was made to identify possible kinetic processes not included in the generic PBK model that might explain the overestimations. Overall, the results provide crucial insights into the predictive performance of PBK models based on in vitro and in silico input and the influence of different input approaches on the model predictions.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"221–234"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39847908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ALTEXPub Date : 2022-01-01Epub Date: 2022-03-26DOI: 10.14573/altex.2111182
Patrícia Zoio, Sara Lopes-Ventura, Joana Marto, Abel Oliva
{"title":"Open-source human skin model with an in vivo-like barrier for drug testing.","authors":"Patrícia Zoio, Sara Lopes-Ventura, Joana Marto, Abel Oliva","doi":"10.14573/altex.2111182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.14573/altex.2111182","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is a global trend towards the development of physiologically relevant in vitro skin models to reduce or replace animal testing in the evaluation of therapeutic drug candidates. However, only commercial reconstructed human epidermis models (RHEm) have undergone formal validation. Although these commercial models are suitable for a wide range of applications, they are costly, lack flexibility, and the protocols used to generate them are not transparent. In this study, we present an open-source full-thickness skin model (FTSm) and assess its potential for drug testing. The FTSm was developed using endogenous extracellular matrix to recreate the dermal compartment, avoiding animal-derived hydrogels. An RHEm based on an open-source protocol was evaluated in parallel. The integrity of the skin barrier was analyzed by challenging the surface with detergents and measuring cell viability as well as by trans-epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements. Skin irritation studies were performed based on OECD guidelines and complemented with an evaluation of the impact on the skin barrier by TEER measurement. The permeation of a dye through the developed models and a commercial membrane (Strat-M®) was compared using Franz diffusion cells and an infinite dose approach. The FTSm demonstrated structural and barrier properties comparable to native human skin. Although the RHEm showed a better performance in drug testing, the FTSm presented better barrier properties than commercial models as reported in the literature. These skin models can be a valuable contribution to accelerating the development and dissemination of alternatives to animal testing, avoiding the limitations of commercial models.</p>","PeriodicalId":520550,"journal":{"name":"ALTEX","volume":" ","pages":"405–418"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40315820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}