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

Cultured Human Hepatocytes -- A Model for Drug Toxicity Studies

Gabrielle M. Hawksworth, PhD
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland

Present cultures of human hepatocytes often fail to provide a good system for testing toxicity because of progressive loss of key enzymes. Hawksworth is evaluating two hepatocyte cultures - one on an extracellular matrix and one combining hepatocytes and an epithelial cell line - for enzyme preservation. She also will compare cryopreservation and fresh preparation of culture cells. In a second study, she will use the optimal culture to investigate drug toxicity mechanisms, especially ones involving depletion of reduced glutathione.