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 1991-1992

Cholinergic Cell Lines as Models for Testing Drug Efficacy and Toxicity

J. Krzystof Blusztajn, PhD
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

A host of debilitating diseases affecting the nervous system, including Alzheimer's disease, motor neuron disorders and Huntington's Chorea, are caused by the degeneration or malfunction of cholinergic neurons. Crucial to treating and preventing these diseases is a better understanding of cholinergic neurons and their response to pharmacologic and biologic agents. Dr. Blusztajn is working to develop a homogenous cell preparation which expresses all aspects of the cholinergic phenotype. This cell line will provide a model for testing cholinergic neurons in a totally defined environment to investigate treatment strategies for these neurological diseases, as well as testing drug efficacy and toxicity.