Tuesday, 08 November 2011 10:37

Positive feedback- first Cultex workshop in Hannover, Germany Featured

Between the 3rd and 4th of November 2011, more than twenty participants from university medical faculties, science and technology institutes, companies and government bodies took part in the first Cultex workshop in Hannover, Germany, devoted to current inhalation toxicity issues.


The workshop was organised by Cultex Laboratories GmbH, whose founders, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mohr and Prof. Dr. Michaela Aufderheide, led the participants in an exchange of the newest insights in the field of in vitro inhalation toxicology and optimisation processes for the application of the Cultex RFS Radial Flow System (RFS).



Positive feedback: participants of the first Cultex workshop in Hannover.
Hosts Prof. Dr. Ulrich Mohr (far left) and Prof. Dr. Michaela Aufderheide (first row, third from right).
Photo: Christiane Hohensee


The European Regulation on chemicals (REACH) requires mandatory inhalation toxicity tests, e.g. for acute toxicity. At present there are evidently only a few in vitro test systems in development and none has so far been validated or approved for worldwide application. According to Dr. Sebastian Hoffmann, consultant and CEO of seh consulting + services and former staff member at ECVAM, there are very few inhalation studies for acute toxicology. The RFS module offers a promising in vitro approach for aerosol investigations of human lung cells or human tissues in this area.

For example, the in vivo situation can be emulated by treating human bronchial epithelial cells directly on their air-liquid surface with a broad spectrum of test substances. Cells cultivated in a controlled and reproducible environment are exposed to aerosolised active agents and then analysed with respect to their hazard spectrum.

Dipl.-Ing. Beat Halter, CEO of Halter Engineering GmbH of Switzerland, informed about technical solutions to questions to the homogeneous distribution of particles on cultivated cells. The participants were also informed about technical solutions for depositing smallest nanoparticles on cell cultures, discussed the possibilities of using different cell cultures and systems and shared their experiences in this field.

The participants were also informed about methods for evaluating the influence of possible toxins on the cells. In addition to the important morphological assessment of the cell cultures after exposure to aerosols, the cells are then characterised in detail using immunohistochemical, biochemical and molecular biological methods.

At the end of the workshop, the participants gave positive feedback regarding the shared experiences and suggested following up the subject matter in a second workshop.