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Innovation examples
HealthToxicology
Zebrafish in toxicity testing
Zebrafish are increasingly recognised as a useful model for toxicity testing of chemical substances. Testing strategies are becoming more based on mechanisms of toxicity structured in adverse outcome pathways describing the chain of events leading to toxicity or disease. Using a battery of dedicated in vitro and in silico assays, insight can be gained in how exposure leads to disease. For certain diseases it is known that toxicity relies on the interaction between different organs and cell types, which requires research on whole organisms in addition to simple in vitro models. The zebrafish is considered a valuable whole organism model in a mechanism-based testing strategy. At RIVM, the zebrafish embryo model is used for testing the effect of chemical substances on several adverse outcomes and diseases.
For more information see: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP9888; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136717; www.linkedin.com/in/harm-heusinkveld
Innovation examples
HealthIn vitroOrgan-on-Chip
An iPSC-derived blood-brain barrier to model neurodegeneration
The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells that protects our brain from harmful compounds. However, due to this tight barrier, many drugs to treat neurological diseases cannot enter the brain either.
There are currently no good models to test these types of drugs. Henrique Nogueira Pinto is a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. He is developing a blood-brain barrier model coupled to mini-brains. With this model, he aims to more reliably test how drugs can be transported over the blood-brain barrier and what their effect on the brain is.
Click on the info button for the full version of the video. Click here (https://fluidsbarrierscns.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12987-022-00316-0#Sec3) for a review of the current status of in vitro models for the blood-brain barrier.
Projects and initiatives
HealthInnovationIn vitro
VitalTissue: scientific research can be more human(e)
The goal of VitalTissue is to facilitate the availability of vital human residual tissue for all researchers in the Netherlands. This video shows how VitalTissue works. From a request from a researcher, the donation of the residual tissue by the patient and the transport to the lab. This process is the result of a feasibility study conducted with many stakeholders. The national tissue bank ETB-BISLIFE will implement VitalTissue in practice.
Innovation examples
In vitroOrgan-on-Chip
Unified organoid system for modeling heart and kidney interaction on-a-chip
Beatrice Gabbin is a PhD candidate at the Anatomy and Embryology Department of the Leiden University Medical Center. Her project is shared with the Nephrology Department and focusses on the study of the cardiorenal axis in vitro. Both heart and kidneys have vital functions in the human body and reciprocally influence each other’s behavior: pathological changes in one can damage the other. There are already multiple independent in vitro (human) models of heart and kidney, but none have so far captured their dynamic crosstalk. The aim of the project is therefore to develop a microfluidic system which can be used to study heart and kidney interaction in vitro. For this purpose, cardiac microtissues and kidney organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells are generated and loaded onto a 3D perfusion chip for their dynamic co-culture. This system enables the study the cardiac and kidney interaction with a high level of control. The validation of a unified organoid system will enable the investigation of diseases involving the two organs and their potential treatments. Read more via the link in the video and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2023.100818.
Projects and initiatives
HealthToxicologyIn vitro
PrecisionTox project – interview by TOXstreams
What do nematodes, zooplanktons, clawed frogs, fruit flies, zebrafishes and humans have in common? Well, they are all part of the EU-funded project PrecisionTox. In this teaser for the TOXstreams interview, PrecisionTox researchers explain how they are combining non-traditional test species with molecular and computational methods to better protect our society from toxic chemicals. Prof. John Colbourne, the project’s coordinator, Dr Gaëlle Hayot, Christina Cramer von Clausbruch will tell all you want to know. Click on the link in the video to watch the whole interview.
Projects and initiatives
In vitroOrgan-on-Chip
SMART OoC platform: a standardized modular approach
The SMART Organ-on-Chip project aims to bring Organ-on-Chip technology to the next level, out of the pioneering labs to industrial applications. NWO awarded 4.8 million euro to a large and diverse consortium of universities, companies, research institutes and foundations, brought together by hDMT (Dutch Organ-on-Chip Consortium), that will together develop standardized Organ-on-Chip models. These models will be made to fit the scale and quality that pharmaceutical companies need to use them for development of novel drugs, with better science and less animal use as a result. The project will kick off in autumn 2021. More information on the project will follow in the course of 2021.
Innovation examples
ToxicologyIn vitroOrgan-on-Chip
Human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes for disease modelling and drug discovery
Berend van Meer did his PhD research in the research group of prof. Christine Mummery at the department of Anatomy and Embryology of the Leiden University Medical Center. In this group, human pluripotent stem cell derived (Organ-on-Chip) models are being developed, mostly cardiovascular models. The work of Berend aimed to understand how well these stem cell based cardiac models can predict the effect of (well-known) drug therapies in patients. Importantly, the outcomes of the experiments were compared to very similar measurements in rabbit heart muscle cells. And while animal models predicted less than 70% correctly, the human stem cell based models predicted almost 80% of the expected effects correctly. The research contributes to understanding the relevance of stem cell based models and strengthens the confidence regulators and pharmaceutical companies have in such models as animal alternatives in the drug development pipeline.
Berend van Meer has won the Hugo van Poelgeest prize 2020 for his research on human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes for disease modelling and drug discovery.
Christine Mummery's lab on Heart on Chip, Disease modeling and toxicity: https://www.lumc.nl/org/anatomie-embryologie/research/902040935402533/
Innovation examples
ToxicologyIn vitroOrgan-on-Chip
Cartilage-on-a-chip for studying joint degenerative diseases
Carlo Alberto Paggi is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Twente in the research group of Prof. Marcel Karperien and Prof. Séverine Le Gac. Karperien’s lab focus on the biological aspects of osteoarthritic research while Le Gac’s specialize in organ-on-chip development. The project of Carlo Alberto is developing a joint-on-chip platform to create a reliable in vitro model to study disease progression in osteo- or rheumatoid arthritis. The model combines different organ-on-chips aimed at replicating each a tissue around the joint such as cartilage, bone and ligaments. This new technology focuses on better reproducing human models and at substituting the use of animal models for drug research. If you want to know something more about the project and the groups, you can follow the link in the video.
Carlo Paggi was nominated for the Hugo van Poelgeest prize for his research on a cartilage-on-a-chip model to study joint degenerative diseases
Karperien’s lab of Developmental Bioengineering: https://www.utwente.nl/en/tnw/dbe/
Le Gac’s lab of Applied Microfluidics for BioEngineering Research: http://www.severinelegac.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlo-alberto-paggi-76500b135/
Innovation examples
HealthIn vitro
Immortalized human cells to model atrial fibrillation in vitro
Niels Harlaar is a PhD Candidate at the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology at the Leiden University Medical Center. Here, under the supervison of prof. dr. D.A. Pijnappels and dr. A.A.F. de Vries, he focusses on the conditional immortalization of human atrial cardiomyocytes for (among many other applications) in vitro modelling of atrial fibrillation. He has successfully generated, characterized and applied this technique of these conditionally immortalized human atrial myocyte lines to model atrial fibrillation in vitro.
Niels won the Hugo van Poelgeest prize 2022 for excellent research to replace animal testing.
Click here (https://hartlongcentrum.nl/research/laboratory-of-experimental-cardiology/) for more information on the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology.
Projects and initiatives
HealthInnovationPolicy
EURL ECVAM
The EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) promotes and facilitates the use of non-animal methods in testing and research. It validates, disseminates and shares knowledge on the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal experiments). In this video, Raffaella Corvi explains what EURL ECVAM does in the field of safety testing of chemicals while reducing laboratory animal testing.
Watch the accessible version of the video here (https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-230374).
©European Union, 2021
TPI.tv videos
Beginner
Pro tips for making a video about your research
Need some pro-tips to make your next video on animal-free innovations? Aniek and Victoria got some for you! In this video, they share why you should want to make a video about your research, tips about the content and format of an attractive video, and how to best share your video.
Innovation examples
HealthToxicologyIn silico
AI agents for safer science: How AI is Changing Chemical Risk Assessment
This video introduces a novel approach to chemical safety, where intelligent digital agents guided by large language models support scientists in making faster, more transparent decisions. By automating complex workflows and integrating tools like the OECD QSAR Toolbox, these agentic systems help prioritise research, reduce reliance on animal testing, and pave the way for safer, more sustainable innovation.