Science Pool

The brain is a complex organ. Find out more about the use of in vitro 3D co-culture brain microtissues for predicting human CNS liability.

In this presentation, we focus on:

• a background to drug-induced brain neurotoxicity
• the importance of astrocytes and their function
• the use of brain 3D co-cultured microtissues
• neurotransmitter pathway development over time
• high content screening (HCS) of brain microtissues and validation data

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Cardiotoxicity is a key cause of late stage attrition in drug development. iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes remain viable for more than 2 weeks on MEA plates. As MEA measures electrical activity without addition of any reagents, the cells can be exposed and monitored over extended time periods.

In this presentation, we focus on:

• a background to MEA
• design of the assay for detecting cardiotoxicity following chronic exposure to drugs
• case studies for cardiotoxic drugs with different mechanisms (hERG traffickers, multichannel blockers, specific ion channel effects)

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Vanoxerine is a multi-ion channel blocker. For this reason, it was developed as a therapy for atrial fibrillation. However, in Phase III trials, 11.5% of patients developed torsades de pointes. Using MEA and human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, it was possible to detect this cardiotoxic liability. 

In this poster, we focus on:

• the use of MEA and human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes to detect vanoxerine arrhythmias
• the time dependent effect of vanoxerine cardiotoxicity
• the ADME properties of vanoxerine which may impact on its cardiotoxic effect

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Reducing the sample cycle time for LC-MS analysis is critical in increasing throughput and improving efficiency.

In this poster, we focus on:

• the development of a ultra-fast chromatography method with rapid cycle time
• the analysis of the sensitivity, linearity, reproducibility, robustness and matrix effects for the method
• applicability to intrinsic clearance determination

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TAK-875 (fasiglifam) is a GPR40 agonist which was developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. However, TAK-875 was withdrawn from phase III clinical trials due to drug-induced liver injury (DILI).

In this poster, we focus on:

• investigating the mechanism behind the hepatotoxicity of TAK-875
• an in-depth understanding of the effect of TAK-875 on mitochondrial toxicity 
• understanding the impact of plasma protein binding

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In order to accurately predict human pharmacokinetics and efficacious dose, a robust measurements of clearance is essential.

In this poster, we focus on:

• a novel primary human hepatocyte media supplement (HepExtend^TM)
• a comparison of HepExtend^TM with the widely used CM4000 with and without a Geltrex overlay
• a correlation of scaled in vitro human intrinsic clearance with in vivo human intrinsic clearance

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Advances in human iPSC-derived neuronal models in conjunction with microelectrode array (MEA) technology has enhanced our understanding of complex burst organisation and network characteristics in humans. This now provides a viable human model for studying drug-induced toxicity and CNS liabilities as well as potential pharmacology effects on the neurones.

In this poster, we focus on:

• investigating co-cultures of human iPSC-derived glutamatergic neurons with astrocytes on the MEA platform
• determining spike activity, burst organisation and network organisation (synchrony) patterns for different types of CNS compounds (GABA_A agonists, potassium channel blockers, opioid receptor agonist, glycine receptor antagonist and cholinergic and muscarinic receptor agonists)
• understanding developmental and pharmacological responses when assessed by MEA

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Drug or chemical-induced nephrotoxicity is responsible for 25% of renal failure in the clinic.

In this poster, we focus on:

• a comparison of 2D and 3D human primary kidney cell-based models for predicting nephrotoxicity
• the use of mono and co-culture kidney models
• using HCS for the simultaneous detection of DNA structure, GSH content, mitochondrial toxicity and phospholipidosis

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Pilocarpine is a muscarinic receptor agonist which is used as a model inducer of epilepsy in the rat. We evaluated the seizurogenic response of pilocarpine using an in vitro MEA platform.

In this poster, we focus on:

• a comparison of pilocarpine response in different neuronal cell types; cryopreserved rat cortical neurons, cryopreserved rat hippocampal neurons and a co-culture of human iPSC-derived glutamatergic neurons with astrocytes
• the impact of DIV and cell maturation on the response
• identifying muscarinic receptor expression over time

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The benefits of 3D cell-based models in the prediction of drug-induced liver injury are now being realised. 

In this poster, we focus on:

• the use of 3D models (cryopreserved human hepatocytes co-cultured with human non-parenchymal cells compared with HepaRG monocultures)
• cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity in the different models
• HCS analysis of DNA structure, GSH content, ROS formation and mitochondrial function
• prediction of DILI potential for a set of DILI-positive and negative compounds

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