Risk assessment of substances by multi-biomarker profiling of 3D-tissue cultures

project management: Dr. Niels Grabe

funding: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin

project partners: Prof. Dr. Pascal Tomakidi, Head of Cell and Tissue Culture Laboratory; Dept. of Orthodontics and Dento-Facial Orthopedics, Dental School University Heidelberg; Dr. Manfred Liebsch, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, ZEBET, Berlin

Abstract:
This interdisciplinary project aims at developing a novel method enabling the objective, automatic and quantitative characterization of unknown chemical substances. Techniques from bioinformatics, data-mining, image processing, cell biology, and toxicology are used. Multiple biomarkers are spatially profiled using a novel methodology based on fluorescent markers. Based on the obtained profiles, a classification algorithm for unknown substances is developed which can judged substances towards their impact on tissue homeostasis. In this way the toxicological effect of substances can be assessed which cannot be handled by classical toxicological endpoints like cytotoxicity.

Duration: 2006-2009

Co-workers: T. Pommerencke, K. Westphal, C. Ernst, N. Grabe

Irritation testing: protein profiling inside the automatically segmented epithelium based on immunofluorescent tissue sections. 
Applied to the classification of organotypic tissue cultures based on their degree of irritation after treatment.

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