The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Research Grants 1984-1985

Studies Using Hepatocyte Culture to Investigate the Mechanism of Hepatotoxicity of Chemicals that Cause Peroxisome Proliferation

Timothy J.B. Gray, PhD
British Industrial Biological Research Association, Carshalton, England

Timothy J.B. Gray, PhD, of the British Industrial Biological Research Association, Carshalton, England, received renewed funding for his study of the effects of various chemicals on liver cells' production of peroxisomes, tiny structures containing enzymes important in many biochemical reactions. When exposed to toxins, rodent liver cells grown in culture show a proliferation of peroxisomes similar to the proliferation seen in the livers of whole animals.

Dr. Gray plans to determine whether this in vitro test of rodent cells accurately predicts toxic effects in humans and whether the human liver displays a similar peroxisome response. This research will help toxicologists understand the biological significance of the response, he says.