New In Vitro Test May Replace Some Animal Testing

Jonathan S. Dordick, Ph.D.
Solidus Biosciences, Inc. and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
NIEHS Grant R42ES012619

NIEHS supported scientists have developed a new in vitro screening tool that may reduce the number of animals needed in drug testing.  The test system consists of two glass slides—one containing 1,080 individual human cell cultures encapsulated in collagen or other matrices and the other coated with P450 metabolic enzymes. 

The product was developed by Jonathan Dordick and Douglas Clark of Solidus Biosciences in part through a Small Business Innovative Research Grant from NIEHS.  The cell culture slide, known as the DataChip, has been tested with human bladder, liver, kidney, heart, skin, or lung cells.  The enzyme containing slide is called the MetaChip.  When the two slides are sandwiched together and incubated, they mimic the body’s reaction to compounds.  If the cells stop growing, appear sick, or die, it’s an indication that a toxin is present.

While the investigators don’t think there product will totally replace the use of live laboratory animals in drug testing, they do think that it could reduce the total number of animals used to in bringing new products to the marketplace and provide a more rapid screening tool for weeding out highly toxic or unpromising compounds.

Citation: Lee MY, Kumar RA, Sukumaran SM, Hogg MG, Clark DS, Dordick JS. Three-dimensional cellular microarray for high-throughput toxicology assays. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jan 8;105(1):59-63.