The partners in InLiveTox were an interdisciplinary consortium including European leaders in nanotoxicology, pharmacy and engineering. The consortium developed a novel modular fluidics-based in vitro test system and demonstrated its use to model the response of selected tissues to the ingestion of NPs. The results from the in vitro system were validated by an in vivo study of NP biokinetics and toxicity by ingestion in rats carried out in parallel. The InLiveTox system developed in this project has wider application than just the testing of response to NPs. It can be used as a testing and research tool in toxicology and pharmacology for any new chemical entity. Throughout the project there has been extensive dialogue with members of an Industrial Advisory Group whose from the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food and household products manufacturing industries. Technical outputs from the project include tested prototypes of a cell culture system that will be commercialized by partners from the consortium. Cell culture protocols and assay protocols for toxicity studies and screening of ingested NP toxicity will support the adoption of this new system by industry and the academic research community. |