Speaker: Prof. Dr. Ellen Fritsche, IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Düsseldorf
Date: Thursday, 30th of March 2017, 12:15 pm
Location: Campus FME, Haus 60b, 1. Etage, Konferenzraum der Klinik für Nieren- und Hochdruckkrankheiten, Diabetologie und Endokrinologie
Host: Prof. Dr. Peter Mertens (OvGU, Universitätsklinik für Nieren- und Hochdruckkrankheiten, Diabetologie und Endokrinologie)
Further Information: A major issue in developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) risk assessment is the lack of toxicological hazard information for most compounds. Therefore, new approaches are needed to provide adequate experimental data that allow regulatory decisions. The Fritsche lab has developed a 3D method for DNT hazard assessment based on human, rat and mouse neurospheres that mimic early neurodevelopmental processes like neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation, migration, differentiation into neurons and glial cells as well as apoptosis in vitro. This system is thus suited to perform pathway-to-function analyses in a species-specific context. Such data is also valuable to translate rodent in vivo data to humans on a mechanistic basis within the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) concept. The Fritsche lab focuses currently on the assay’s scientific validation in order to define its biological application domain. Furthermore, algorithms are developed for the analysis of neurospheres in medium-throughput Hight Content Imaging Analyses (HCA).