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 1993-1994

A Human In Vitro Skin Model for Toxicity Screening

Benjamin F. Trump, MD
University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland

The objective of this third year research project is to refine earlier studies which have identified early indicators of cutaneous toxicity using muring keratinocyte JB6 cells. These early indicators include measurement of intracellular ionized calcium levels and measurement of immediate early gene induction. Genes under study include c-fos, c-myc, and hsp70. Confocal laser scanning microscopy will be coupled with newly developed fluorescent probes to permit more rapid assessment of ion changes. The investigators will also use genetically engineered JB6 cell lines to assess the significance of these assays, using both primary and immortalized human cell lines.