The neutral red uptake assay is a cell viability assay that allows in vitro quantification of xenobiotic-induced cytotoxicity. The assay relies on the ability of living cells to incorporate and bind neutral red, a weak cationic dye, in lysosomes. As such, cytotoxicity is expressed as a concentration

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:04

Contact: Robim Rodrigues
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal, Validated by an external party (e.g. OECD, EURL ECVAM,…)
The GENOMARK tool in metabolically competent human HepaRG cells is based on the transcriptomic results obtained with 12 genotoxic (in vivo positive results) and 12 non-genotoxic (in vivo negative results) reference compounds. Genotoxic compounds were selected to cover different mechanisms of action

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:03

Contact: Anouck Thienpont
Organisation: Sciensano, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
By the use of monolayer cultures as an in vitro system, the effects of drugs on CYP3A activity can be evaluated. It relies on the use of a luminogenic CYP3A substrate, namely luciferin-6′-pentafluorobenzylether (luciferin- PFBE). Upon biotransformation by CYP3A, luciferin-PFBE is converted into

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:03

Contact: Steven Branson
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use
Liver functionality can be monitored by the urea synthesis. In culture medium the measurement of urea synthesis relies on a chromogenic reagent that specifically forms a colored complex with urea. The concentration of this complex between urea, o-phthalaldehyde and N-(1-naphthyl) ethylenediamine can

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:03

Contact: Steven Branson
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use
Albumin secretion in the supernatant of in vitro cultures can be measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The assay is based upon a quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique and measures albumin in the culture medium of primary hepatocytes and/or hepatocyte like cells. Standards

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:02

Contact: Steven Branson
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use
This method provides a new and easy to standardize enzymatic isolation protocol to obtain human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSCs). hUC-MSCs are obtained within 3 hours and the isolation method provides a minimal risk of bacterial contamination. The so-obtained hUC-MSCs were

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:02

Contact: Karolien Buyl
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSCs) express several key liver-specific transcription factors as well as hepatic progenitor markers. However, they still lack the hepatocyte nuclear factors 1-alpha (HNF1a) and 4-alpha (HNF4a), indispensable for their reprogramming towards

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:02

Contact: Karolien Buyl
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: Still in development
HepG2 is a human hepatoma derived cell line, which are epithelial in morphology. It was established from liver tissue of a 15-year-old Caucasian male with a well differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma. The HepG2 cell line is one of the most used human liver-based in vitro models. The cells secrete

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:02

Contact: Anja Heymans
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use
Cryopreserved differentiated HepaRG cells (obtained from Biopredic International) are derived from a human hepatocellular carcinoma. These cells are an unique in vitro tool that provides reproducible results and exhibit many characteristics of primary human hepatocytes such as morphology, expression

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:02

Contact: Anja Heymans
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use
In this method, we use rabbit monoclonal antibodies that are produced in vitro to identify xenografted human stem cell-derived hepatocytes in frozen murine liver slices. These recombinant antibodies were produced in vitro by cloning antibody genes for immune-specific heavy and light antibody chains

Last updated on: 28-02-2022 - 11:02

Contact: Joery De Kock
Organisation: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Status: History of use