What is the problem being addressed?
Advances in the treatment of many human health conditions depend on access to representative testing systems that allow researchers to quickly evaluate the potential of new drug therapies. In some fields, the options are limited and efforts to reduce the amount of animal testing used are also creating a strong need to find better solutions. In the field of research focused on Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control, there are a distinct lack of model systems that are sufficiently representative of the human condition which is hindering the investigation and development of effective treatment options. Similarly in the field of cosmetic testing, previously very reliant on animal testing, better and better alternatives are needed to ensure that cosmetics are developed that reach the highest safety standards possible.
Why is it important for society?
The average incidence rate of ALS worldwide is about one in 50,000 people per year that equates to about 5,760 to 6,400 new diagnoses per year. According to some estimates, the number of cases of ALS in the world will increase from 222,801 in 2015 to 376,674 in 2040, representing an increase of 69%. The largest increase will be seen in Africa with 116%, followed by Asia with 81% and South America with 73%. ALS is fatal. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. (The famous physicist Stephen Hawking, for example, lived for more than 50 years after he was diagnosed.)
Testing represents an important part of a cosmetic product registration process. Cosmetic products have to undergo all the required testing defined in the EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 in order to be compliant and more importantly, to prove they are safe for use under reasonably foreseeable conditions.
What are the overall objectives?
Skin Module will be a world first, a commercially available innervated human skin tissue model. It allows studies and testing of Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) responses to external stimuli in a physiologically relevant context. This module itself can be used to investigate activities of both dermal and nerve cells at the same time. When a stimulus is introduced on the skin layer, responses of skin cells and activities of sensory neurons (e.g. pain & itch) can be recorded simultaneously. The Applications of the Skin Module are as follows:
• Peripheral neurotoxicity testing of cosmetics, pollutants, and transdermal delivery of new therapeutics, etc.
• Development of wound healing assays and wound healing therapeutic strategies
• Studies of interactions of human sensory neurons and dermal tissue
Muscle Module is an innovative motor neuron-skeletal muscle tissue model. It allows non-invasive recordings of neuromuscular transmission in real time. The Applications of the Muscle Model are as follows:
• Investigation of human neuromuscular junction formation and signal transmission upon administration of therapeutic agents.
• Studies of muscular atrophies & motor neuron diseases with genetically engineered or patient derived cells.
• Long-term monitoring and analysis of drug effects (toxicity and efficacy) with live 3D imaging and electro-physiological recordings.
