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Inhibition of angiogenesis is an important mode of action for the teratogenic effect of chemicals and drugs. There is a gap in the availability of simple, experimental screening models for the detection of angiogenesis inhibition. The zebrafish embryo represents an alternative test system which offers the complexity of developmental differentiation of an entire organism while allowing for small-scale and high-throughput screening. Here we present a novel automated imaging-based method to detect the inhibition of angiogenesis in early life stage zebrafish. Video subtraction was used to identify the location and number of functional intersegmental vessels according to the detection of moving blood cells. By exposing embryos to multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitors including SU4312, SU5416, Sorafenib, or PTK787, we confirmed that this method can detect concentration-dependent inhibition of angiogenesis. Parallel assessment of arterial and venal aorta ruled out a potential bias by impaired heart or blood cell development. In contrast, the histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid did not affect ISV formation supporting the specificity of the angiogenic effects. The new test method showed higher sensitivity, i.e. lower effect concentrations, relative to a fluorescent reporter gene strain (Tg(KDR:EGFP)) exposed to the same tyrosine kinase inhibitors indicating that functional effects due to altered tubulogenesis or blood transport can be detected before structural changes of the endothelium are visible by fluorescence imaging. Comparison of exposure windows indicated higher specificity for angiogenesis when exposure started at later embryonic stages (24 h post-fertilization). One of the test compounds was showing particularly high specificity for angiogenesis effects (SU4312) and was, therefore, suggested as a model compound for the identification of molecular markers of angiogenic disruption. Our findings establish video imaging in wild-type strains as viable, non-invasive, high-throughput method for the detection of chemical-induced angiogenic disruption in zebrafish embryos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and other EU regulations, such as REACH and the Cosmetic Products Regulation advocate for a change in the way toxicity testing is conducted. Whilst the Cosmetic Products Regulation bans animal testing altogether, REACH aims for a progressive shift from in vivo testing towards quantitative in vitro and computational approaches. Several endpoints can already be addressed using non-animal approaches including skin corrosion and irritation, serious eye damage and irritation, skin sensitisation, and mutagenicity and genotoxicity. However, for systemic effects such as acute toxicity, repeated dose toxicity and reproductive and developmental toxicity, evaluation of chemicals under REACH still heavily relies on animal tests. Here we summarise current EU regulatory requirements for the human health assessment of chemicals under REACH and the Cosmetic Products Regulation, considering the more critical endpoints and identifying the main challenges in introducing alternative methods into regulatory testing practice. This supports a recent initiative taken by the International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM) to summarise current regulatory requirements specific for the assessment of chemicals and cosmetic products for several human health-related endpoints, with the aim of comparing different jurisdictions and coordinating the promotion and ultimately the implementation of non-animal approaches worldwide. Recent initiatives undertaken at European level to promote the 3Rs and the use of alternative methods in current regulatory practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the present work was to review the availability and predictive value of non-animal toxicokinetic approaches and to evaluate their current use in European risk evaluations of food contaminants, additives and food contact materials, as well as pesticides and medicines. Results revealed little use of quantitative animal or human kinetic data in risk evaluations of food chemicals, compared with pesticides and medicines. Risk evaluations of medicines provided sufficient in vivo kinetic data from different species to evaluate the predictive value of animal kinetic data for humans. These data showed a relatively poor correlation between the in vivo bioavailability in rats and dogs versus that in humans. In contrast, in vitro (human) kinetic data have been demonstrated to provide adequate predictions of the fate of compounds in humans, using appropriate in vitro-in vivo scalers and by integration of in vitro kinetic data with in silico kinetic modelling. Even though in vitro kinetic data were found to be occasionally included within risk evaluations of food chemicals, particularly results from Caco-2 absorption experiments and in vitro data on gut-microbial conversions, only minor use of in vitro methods for metabolism and quantitative in vitro-in vivo extrapolation methods was identified. Yet, such quantitative predictions are essential in the development of alternatives to animal testing as well as to increase human relevance of toxicological risk evaluations. Future research should aim at further improving and validating quantitative alternative methods for kinetics, thereby increasing regulatory acceptance of non-animal kinetic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin sensitization is the process by which a substance induces an allergic reaction following skin contact. The process has been described as an adverse outcome pathway (AOP), including several key events, from skin penetration and covalent protein binding, to keratinocyte activation, dendritic cell activation and T-lymphocyte proliferation. The in vitro assay KeratinoSens™ measures the activation of keratinocytes. It is fully accepted at a regulatory level (OECD TG 442d) and complies with a range of legislation including the EU Cosmetics Regulation, REACH, and the CLP Regulation. Currently, many in vitro methods use animal-derived components in their cell culture systems. Many stakeholders in the cosmetics industry have both scientific and ethical concerns relating to this issue and have stated a strong preference for fully human in vitro test systems. We have adapted the KeratinoSens™ method to animal product-free conditions, and carried out an in-house validation with 21 reference substances, including those listed in the Performance Standards associated with OECD TG442d. The modified method was shown to be equivalent to the Validated Reference Method (VRM), with comparable values for accuracy (85.7%), sensitivity (84.6%) and specificity (87.5%), and all acceptance criteria being met. In Europe, data generated by the adapted method may be used in REACH submissions, and we are now seeking approval to list the adaptation in OECD TG 442d, enabling formal compliance with a range of global regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern toxicology, substantial efforts are undertaken to develop alternative solutions for in vivo toxicity testing. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) concept could facilitate knowledge-based safety assessment of chemicals that does not rely exclusively on in vivo toxicity testing. The construction of an AOP is based on understanding toxicological processes at different levels of biological organisation. Here, we present the developed AOP for liver fibrosis and demonstrate a linkage between hepatic injury caused by chemical protein alkylation and the formation of liver fibrosis, supported by coherent and consistent scientific data. This long-term process, in which inflammation, tissue destruction, and repair occur simultaneously, results from the complex interplay between various hepatic cell types, receptors, and signalling pathways. Due to the complexity of the process, an adequate liver fibrosis cell model for in vitro evaluation of a chemical's fibrogenic potential is not yet available. Liver fibrosis poses an important human health issue that is also relevant for regulatory purposes. An AOP described with enough mechanistic detail might support chemical risk assessment by indicating early markers for downstream events and thus facilitating the development of an in vitro testing strategy. With this work, we demonstrate how the AOP framework can support the assembly and coherent display of distributed mechanistic information from the literature to support the use of alternative approaches for prediction of toxicity. This AOP was developed according to the guidance document on developing and assessing AOPs and its supplement, the users' handbook, issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of reliable cell-based nanotoxicology assays is important for evaluation of potentially hazardous engineered nanomaterials. Challenges to producing a reliable assay protocol include working with nanoparticle dispersions and living cell lines, and the potential for nano-related interference effects. Here we demonstrate the use of a 96-well plate design with several measurement controls and an interlaboratory comparison study involving five laboratories to characterize the robustness of a nanocytotoxicity MTS cell viability assay based on the A549 cell line. The consensus EC50 values were 22.1 mg/L (95% confidence intervals 16.9 mg/L to 27.2 mg/L) and 52.6 mg/L (44.1 mg/L to 62.6 mg/L) for positively charged polystyrene nanoparticles for the serum-free and serum conditions, respectively, and 49.7 μmol/L (47.5 μmol/L to 51.5 μmol/L) and 77.0 μmol/L (54.3 μmol/L to 99.4 μmol/L) for positive chemical control cadmium sulfate for the serum-free and serum conditions, respectively. Results from the measurement controls can be used to evaluate the sources of variability and their relative magnitudes within and between laboratories. This information revealed steps of the protocol that may need to be modified to improve the overall robustness and precision. The results suggest that protocol details such as cell line ID, media exchange, cell handling, and nanoparticle dispersion are critical to ensure protocol robustness and comparability of nanocytotoxicity assay results. The combination of system control measurements and interlaboratory comparison data yielded insights that would not have been available by either approach by itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hazard assessment of skin sensitizers relies mainly on animal testing, but much progress is made in the development, validation and regulatory acceptance and implementation of non-animal predictive approaches. In this review, we provide an update on the available computational tools and animal-free test methods for the prediction of skin sensitization hazard. These individual test methods address mostly one mechanistic step of the process of skin sensitization induction. The adverse outcome pathway (AOP) for skin sensitization describes the key events (KEs) that lead to skin sensitization. In our review, we have clustered the available test methods according to the KE they inform: the molecular initiating event (MIE/KE1)-protein binding, KE2-keratinocyte activation, KE3-dendritic cell activation and KE4-T cell activation and proliferation. In recent years, most progress has been made in the development and validation of in vitro assays that address KE2 and KE3. No standardized in vitro assays for T cell activation are available; thus, KE4 cannot be measured in vitro. Three non-animal test methods, addressing either the MIE, KE2 or KE3, are accepted as OECD test guidelines, and this has accelerated the development of integrated or defined approaches for testing and assessment (e.g. testing strategies). The majority of these approaches are mechanism-based, since they combine results from multiple test methods and/or computational tools that address different KEs of the AOP to estimate skin sensitization potential and sometimes potency. Other approaches are based on statistical tools. Until now, eleven different testing strategies have been published, the majority using the same individual information sources. Our review shows that some of the defined approaches to testing and assessment are able to accurately predict skin sensitization hazard, sometimes even more accurate than the currently used animal test. A few defined approaches are developed to provide an estimate of the potency sub-category of a skin sensitizer as well, but these approaches need further independent evaluation with a new dataset of chemicals. To conclude, this update shows that the field of non-animal approaches for skin sensitization has evolved greatly in recent years and that it is possible to predict skin sensitization hazard without animal testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current neurotoxicity testing heavily relies on expensive, time consuming and ethically debated in vivo animal experiments that are unsuitable for screening large numbers of chemicals. Consequently, there is a clear need for (highthroughput) in vitro test strategies, preferably using human cells as this increases relevance and eliminates the need for interspecies translation. However, the human stem cell-derived neurons used to date are not well characterized, require prolonged differentiation and are potentially subject to batch-to-batch variation, ethical concerns and country-specific legislation. Recently, a number of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons became commercially available that may circumvent these concerns. We used immunofluorescent staining to demonstrate that human iPSC-derived neurons from various suppliers form mixed neuronal cultures consisting of different types of (excitatory and inhibitory) neurons. Using multi-well microelectrode array (mwMEA) recordings, we demonstrate that these human iPSC-derived cultures develop spontaneous neuronal activity over time, which can be modulated by different physiological, toxicological and pharmacological compounds. Additional single cell calcium imaging illustrates the presence of functional GABA, glutamate, and acetylcholine receptors as well as voltage-gated calcium channels. While human iPSC-derived neuronal cultures appear not yet suitable to fully replace the rat primary cortical model, our data indicate that these rapidly differentiating, commercially available human iPSC-derived neuronal cultures are already suitable for in vitro prioritization and effect screening studies. Further characterization and toxicological validation is now required to facilitate acceptance and large-scale implementation of these animal-free, physiologicallyrelevant, human iPSC-based models for future neurotoxicity testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mouse embryonic stem D3 (ES-D3) cell differentiation assay is based on the morphometric measurement of cardiomyocyte differentiation and is a promising tool to detect developmental toxicity of compounds. The BeWo transport model, consisting of BeWo b30 cells grown on transwell inserts and mimicking the placental barrier, is useful to determine relative placental transport velocities of compounds. We have previously demonstrated the usefulness of the ES-D3 cell differentiation assay in combination with the in vitro BeWo transport model to predict the relative in vivo developmental toxicity potencies of a set of reference azole compounds. To further evaluate this combined in vitro toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic approach, we combined ES-D3 cell differentiation data of six novel triazoles with relative transport rates obtained from the BeWo model and compared the obtained ranking to the developmental toxicity ranking as derived from in vivo data. The data show that the combined in vitro approach provided a correct prediction for in vivo developmental toxicity, whereas the ES-D3 cell differentiation assay as stand-alone did not. In conclusion, we have validated the combined in vitro approach for developmental toxicity, which we have previously developed with a set of reference azoles, for a set of six novel triazoles. We suggest that this combined model, which takes both toxicodynamic and toxicokinetic aspects into account, should be further validated for other chemical classes of developmental toxicants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple and rapid luminometric assay for the detection of chemical inhibitors of human thyroid peroxidase (hTPO) activity was developed and validated with 10 model compounds. hTPO was derived from the human thyroid follicular cell line Nthy-ori 3-1 and its activity was quantified by measuring the oxidation of luminol in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which results in emission of light at 428 nm. In this assay, hTPO activity was shown to be inhibited by 5 known TPO inhibitors and not inhibited by 5 non-inhibitors. Similar results were obtained with porcine TPO (pTPO). The inhibition of hTPO by the model compounds was also tested with guaiacol and Amplilu Red as alternative indicator substrates. While all substrates allowed the detection of pTPO activity and its inhibition, only the Amplilu Red and luminol-based methods were sensitive enough to allow the quantification of hTPO activity from Nthy-ori 3-1 cell lysates. Moreover, luminol gave results with a narrower 95% confidence interval and therefore more reliable data. Whole extracts of fast-growing Nthy-ori 3-1 cells circumvent the need for animal-derived thyroid organs, thereby reducing costs, eliminating potential contamination and providing the possibility to study human instead of porcine TPO. Overall, the application of luminol and Nthy-ori 3-1 cell lysate for the detection of the disruption of hTPO activity was found to represent a valuable in vitro alternative and a possible candidate for inclusion within a high throughput integrated testing strategy for the detection of compounds that potentially interfere with normal thyroid function in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of new testing systems and 'omics'-technologies has left regulatory toxicology facing one of the biggest challenges for decades. That is the question whether and how these methods can be used for regulatory purposes. The new methods undoubtedly enable regulators to address important open questions of toxicology such as species-specific toxicity, mixture toxicity, low-dose effects, endocrine effects or nanotoxicology, while promising faster and more efficient toxicity testing with the use of less animals. Consequently, the respective assays, methods and testing strategies are subject of several research programs worldwide. On the other hand, the practical application of such tests for regulatory purposes is a matter of ongoing debate. This document summarizes key aspects of this debate in the light of the European 'regulatory status quo', while elucidating new perspectives for regulatory toxicity testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SEURAT-1 is a European public-private research consortium that is working towards animal-free testing of chemical compounds and the highest level of consumer protection. A research strategy was formulated based on the guiding principle to adopt a toxicological mode-of-action framework to describe how any substance may adversely affect human health. The proof of the initiative will be in demonstrating the applicability of the concepts on which SEURAT-1 is built on three levels: (i) Theoretical prototypes for adverse outcome pathways are formulated based on knowledge already available in the scientific literature on investigating the toxicological modes-of-action leading to adverse outcomes (addressing mainly liver toxicity); (ii) adverse outcome pathway descriptions are used as a guide for the formulation of case studies to further elucidate the theoretical model and to develop integrated testing strategies for the prediction of certain toxicological effects (i.e., those related to the adverse outcome pathway descriptions); (iii) further case studies target the application of knowledge gained within SEURAT-1 in the context of safety assessment. The ultimate goal would be to perform ab initio predictions based on a complete understanding of toxicological mechanisms. In the near-term, it is more realistic that data from innovative testing methods will support read-across arguments. Both scenarios are addressed with case studies for improved safety assessment. A conceptual framework for a rational integrated assessment strategy emerged from designing the case studies and is discussed in the context of international developments focusing on alternative approaches for evaluating chemicals using the new 21st century tools for toxicity testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Validation of new approaches in regulatory toxicology is commonly defined as the independent assessment of the reproducibility and relevance (the scientific basis and predictive capacity) of a test for a particular purpose. In large ring trials, the emphasis to date has been mainly on reproducibility and predictive capacity (comparison to the traditional test) with less attention given to the scientific or mechanistic basis. Assessing predictive capacity is difficult for novel approaches (which are based on mechanism), such as pathways of toxicity or the complex networks within the organism (systems toxicology). This is highly relevant for implementing Toxicology for the 21st Century, either by high-throughput testing in the ToxCast/ Tox21 project or omics-based testing in the Human Toxome Project. This article explores the mostly neglected assessment of a test's scientific basis, which moves mechanism and causality to the foreground when validating/qualifying tests. Such mechanistic validation faces the problem of establishing causality in complex systems. However, pragmatic adaptations of the Bradford Hill criteria, as well as bioinformatic tools, are emerging. As critical infrastructures of the organism are perturbed by a toxic mechanism we argue that by focusing on the target of toxicity and its vulnerability, in addition to the way it is perturbed, we can anchor the identification of the mechanism and its verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern society faces an inherent dilemma. In our globalized society, we are spoilt for choice by an ever-increasing number of products, many of which are made of new materials and compound mixtures. At the same time, as consumers we got accustomed to the idea of a life minimized for risk, including our own exposure to chemicals from the environment or to compounds present in and released from everyday products. Chemical safety testing bridges these obviously diverging interests, and the corresponding legislation has hence been tremendously extended (e.g., introduction of the European legislation REACH in 2007). However, the underlying regulatory toxicology still relies mainly on animal testing, which is relatively slow, expensive, and ethically arguable. Meanwhile, recent years have seen a surge in efforts to develop alternative testing systems and strategies. Expectations are particularly high for the applicability of stem cells as test systems especially for developmental toxicity testing in vitro. For the first time in history, test systems can be based on differentiating cells and tissue progenitors in culture, thus bringing the 'vision of toxicity testing in the 21st century' a step closer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Center for Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments (ZEBET), an international symposium was held at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin. At the same time, this symposium was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of the book 'The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique' by Russell and Burch in 1959 in which the 3Rs principle (that is, Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement) has been coined and introduced to foster the development of alternative methods to animal testing. Another topic addressed by the symposium was the new vision on 'Toxicology in the twenty-first Century', as proposed by the US-National Research Council, which aims at using human cells and tissues for toxicity testing in vitro rather than live animals. An overview of the achievements and current tasks, as well as a vision of the future to be addressed by ZEBET@BfR in the years to come is outlined in the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the zebrafish embryo model in environmental risk assessment. It is said that the use of fish embryos is not regulated by legislations on animal welfare. Fish embryos are models for studies that aim to understand toxic mechanisms and the indication of adverse and long-term effects. It is cited that toxicogenomics present an approach to unknot the potential mechanisms, in which examples of the use of zebrafish embryos are presented. Application of other methods, such as kinase arrays or metabolomic profiling is also discussed.

An in vitro, fluorimetric method for the quantitation of immobilized cells has been developed using sulfarhodamine-labeled phalloidin. This actin-based microtiter assay has a number of important advantages over conventional cellular quantitation methods. It does not require prior labelling of cells, works well on either plates or polycarbonate membranes, and is rapid, automatable and quantitative. We have optimized the assay using cultured human lung cancer cells. Although special emphasis has been placed on the attachment of CD44-positive cells to hyaluronan, the method detects cellular attachment to a variety of substrates including laminin and fibronectin. The porous surfaces used are identical to those employed in conventional chemotaxis and invasion assays. As such, this detection method may provide a useful means to identify anti-adhesives and invasives and represents an alternative to the initial phases of animal testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]