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 1995-1996

Epidermal Cells Expression of Co-Stimulatory Activity in the Induction of Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Anthony A. Gaspari, MD
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

The goal of this proposal is to study the regulation of antigen presenting cell functions by epidermal cells and define its relationship to allergic contact dermatitis. In the first three years of this study, Gaspari and colleagues defined the relationship between the expression of B7/BB1 antigen by epidermal cells and allergic contact dermatitis. To investigate the effects of allergens on the expression of BB-1 antigens by human keratinocytes (KC) in vitro, the investigators will analyze the effects of allergens on the regulation of the expression of cell surface B7 by cultured KC, develop a screening ELISA to study the effects of large numbers of allergens on B7 expression by cultured KC, and study the effects of allergens on cultured KC for their effects on the expression of B7 transcripts. The overall aim of the project is to better understand the immunopathologic mechanisms of allergic contact dermatitis and to use this information to develop an in vitro alternative to whole animal testing to screen for contact allergens.