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 1990-1991

A Spinal Cord Neuron-Neuroblastoma Hybrid Cell Line as a Model for Neurotoxicity Investigation

Heather D. Durham, PhD
Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal, Quebec

Durham's research seeks to determine if a unique cell line, a hybrid of embryonic mouse spinal cord cells and mouse neuroblastoma cells, will prove a useful model for testing neurotoxic agents. The cell line displays many properties of motor neurons, but with capacity for cell division. The neurotoxins she will use damage in vitro motor neurons in specific ways, such as affecting axonal transport or action potential conduction. Durham will monitor the toxins' physiological and anatomical effect on the cultures for similarities to cells in vivo.