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environmentAL Toxicity chEmical mixtuRes through aN innovative platform based on aged cardiac tissue model

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

Environmental chemical exposure weighs heavy on the heart

Toxic chemicals are omnipresent in the environment. From pesticides to drug traces in water, soil, air and living organisms, people are continuously exposed to a huge amount and variety of potentially toxic substances. At the same time, a growing occurrence of cardiovascular diseases has been observed, leading to the hypothesis that the two phenomena are related. To address this issue, the EU-funded ALTERNATIVE project will develop a platform that enables the identification, quantification and prevention of cardiotoxic co-exposures to industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The platform will consist of a three-dimensional 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 risk assessment tool.

Objective

ALTERNATIVE will develop an innovative platform able to detect the cardiotoxicity of chemicals and their bio-transformation products. The novel platform will enable regulators and industry to identify, quantify and prevent cardiotoxic co-exposures to industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals in a cost-effective way. ALTERNATIVE will particularly focus on cardiotoxic effects on older people, which is of high relevance in view of the ageing EU population and the high spread of cardiovascular diseases.
The platform will consist of a three-dimensional tissue engineering 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. In addition, ALTERNATIVE will modify the tissue model to reproduce the aged myocardial tissue and elucidate the adverse effects of chemicals on older people. ALTERNATIVE?s proof-of-concept validation will be performed on well-known mixtures of pollutants, affecting different environmental compartments, and selected via epidemiological, toxicological and modelling expertise.
ALTERNATIVE will also provide systematic reviews of high-quality epidemiological studies to support integrated in vitro and in silico data, giving a more robust basis for regulatory decisions.
The ALTERNATIVE platform will be an innovative tool for complying with the current regulation associated with the assessment of chemical compounds. It will be a new instrument to evaluate unpredictable toxicity due to synergistic effects of different chemicals, additionally worsened by the human ageing process.
By introducing an in vitro cardiac system and ML models, ALTERNATIVE will provide a platform able to refine, reduce and replace the need for animal testing, providing close-to-real scenario information on toxicity and achieving a significant reduction of the associated direct and indirect costs.

Fields of science

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

H2020-LC-GD-2020

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Sub call

H2020-LC-GD-2020-3

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Net EU contribution
€ 592 300,00
Address
Corso duca degli abruzzi 24
10129 Torino
Italy

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Region
Nord-Ovest Piemonte Torino
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Other funding
€ 0,00

Participants (10)

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EC signature date 2 September 2021
Last update: 17 November 2022

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101037090

European Union, 2023