In short
Within the ALTERNATIVE project, we are building a platform, mimicking the human, young and aged, cardiac tissue, in order to evaluate the possible cardio-toxic effects of chemicals in a cost-effective manner. This contributes not only to a better protection of human health, but also refines, reduces and replaces the need for animal testing.
Project description
Innovative platform to prevent cardio-toxic exposure
ALTERNATIVE develops an innovative platform able to detect and assess the cardiotoxicity of chemicals and their biotransformation products. The platform consists of a three-dimensional tissue engineered in vitro model mimicking the human cardiac tissue, coupled with a reliable high-throughput monitoring system based on multi-omics analyses, and integrated into a Machine Learning (ML) risk assessment tool. The novel platform will enable regulators and industry to identify, quantify and prevent cardio-toxic co-exposures to industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals in a cost-effective way. ALTERNATIVE will particularly focus on cardio-toxic effects in older people, which is of high relevance in view of the ageing EU population and the high spread of cardiovascular diseases.
In vitro systems for chemical risk assessment
With this unique tool to evaluate cardiotoxicity, we target an endpoint that is not yet specifically addressed for chemicals neither in Europe nor worldwide. Also new insights will be obtained on how data, collected with complex in vitro systems such as bioreactors and Organ-on-chip, can be used for chemical risk assessment.
Regulation for new innovations
At present, regulatory applications of such complex in vitro systems are lacking, and none of the developed systems is currently applied in any regulatory approval path. Sciensano is responsible for ensuring that the developed platform meets the regulatory needs and to stimulate its regulatory uptake. To this extent, the platform will be developed within the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework and its place within an integrated approaches to testing and assessment (IATA) will be defined.
Sciensano's project investigator(s):
Service(s) working on this project
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