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 1998-1999

Development of a Cell Line Assay for Detection of S. Aureus Enterotoxin A in Food

Linda Rassoly, PhD
Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland

One of the most common causes for gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea) is food contamination with Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A (SEA). The current test of functional toxin involves the use of monkeys or kittens. Rasooly and colleagues plan to use the ability of SEA to induce proliferation and cytokine production by lymphocytes as a measure of SEA activity in food. Their goal is to develop a tester cell line that will replace the animal assays for SEA testing in food. This cell line will detect the presence of SEA in the food sample by activation of a specific cytokine promoter as well as a reporter gene.