IIVS, Advancing Science & Animal Welfare Together | September 2024 Issue

Visit us at EUROTOX!

If you will be at EUROTOX, September 8-11, stop by BOOTH #34 to speak with IIVS President, Amanda Ulrey and meet our new Client Relationship Manager Joseph Hughes. We have some new methods available for GLP use now and several others that are currently in the technology transfer phase. We look forward to catching up with you there.

Now Available at IIVS:

Nuclear Receptor Assays

The Indigo Biosciences Nuclear Receptor (NR) assays offer a fast and accurate way to screen candidate chemicals or ingredients for potential interactions that can disrupt normal biological processes, by binding to receptors on the nuclear membrane. Discover agonist and antagonist potentials of known and new substances, whether you are running high-throughput on-target drug discovery or assessing potentially toxic off-target interactions.

Go from test initiation to luminosity with our Tecan^© Luminometer to receiving reliable data analysis in a matter of days, all in a fully-compliant Good Lab Practices (GLP) and Good In Vitro Method Practices (GIVIMP) certified environment.

The Indigo Biosciences NR assays are cell-based trans-activation assays that utilize firefly luciferase reporter gene technology to quantify any functional activity, either agonist or antagonist, that the test substances may exert against the nuclear receptors. Luciferase gene expression occurs after ligand-bound nuclear receptor undergoes nuclear translocation, DNA binding, recruitment and assembly of the co-activators and accessory factors required to form a functional transcription complex, culminating in expression of the target gene. Therefore, quantifying changes in luciferase expression in the treated reporter cells provides a sensitive surrogate measurement of the changes in receptor activity. In other words, the level of light emission (Relative Light Units, RLU) directly correlates with the strength of the interaction. By incorporating the Live Cell Multiplex (LCM), we can confirm the primary NR assay data by evaluating potential mitogenic, cytostatic or cytotoxic effects on the reporter cells.

Recent Publications

So far, 2024 has been prolific for IIVS Scientists. In the past several weeks, we've published and presented our work in several venues. Read on!

The Fibrotic Phenotype of Human Precision-Cut Lung Slices Is Maintained after Cryopreservation

Marimoutou et al. Toxics 2024, 12(9), 637

Human relevance of in vivo and in vitro skin irritation tests for hazard classification of pesticides

Raabe et al. Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology, 2024, 1–21.

Evaluation of eye irritation potential of experimental cosmetic formulations containing glycolic acid, salicylic acid and ethanol using the Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability Assay

Costin et al. 2024. Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology, 43(3), 167–175.

Deriving a point of departure for assessing the skin sensitization risk of wearable device constituents with in vitro methods

Ruparel et al. 2024. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 1(189).

Contributor Spotlight:

The name might be new, but the commitment to moving away from animal testing is long-standing. Formerly part of Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue recently became a fully independent company. Built on more than a century of heritage, their iconic brands including Aveeno®, Listerine®, Neutrogena®, and Tylenol® are science-backed and recommended by healthcare professionals around the world.

Kenuve does not test its cosmetics products on animals unless required to do so to meet regulatory requirements with a view to accomplishing a complete replacement of animal tests with more scientifically advanced and human-relevant test methods.

Kenvue has been an active contributor to IIVS since its founding nearly 30 years ago. In the laboratory, the company worked to develop and use non-animal methods for dermal penetration, eye irritation, and other effects starting in the 1990’s, and continues to engage around the world to assure product safety without animal testing.

Newly GIVIMP-Certified!

The Endocrine Disruptor In Vitro Assay Development and Testing Lab at RTI International joins the list of GIVIMP certified laboratories. These NAM focused laboratories are applying the Good In Vitro Method Practices (GIVIMP) to their day-to-day work in an effort to improve the reliability and repeatability of their work.

Visit the IIVS GIVIMP Certification page to view the complete list of GIVIMP-certified laboratories and see the other groups enrolled in the program. Contact us to learn how you can benefit from the GIVIMP quality management program.

Upcoming Partner Events

ASCCT Meeting Program Set

Register now for the upcoming ASCCT meeting, which will feature compelling oral sessions, Continuing Education courses, a PBK workshop, and more than 90 posters on computational and in vitro toxicology.

EPA NAMS Conference: STATE OF SCIENCE ON DEVELOPMENT AND USE

OF NAMS FOR CHEMICAL SAFETY TESTING

November 5 and 6, 2024

Research Triangle Park, NC, and Virtual

Don't miss the EPA's next NAMs conference, which will review the state of the science of the development and implementation of NAMs for chemical testing. At the conference, attendees will hear from representatives from EPA, other federal agencies, industry, universities, and international organizations and participate in discussions about these advances.

Conference Topics include: