TOXicity assessment on neurons and cardiomyocytes by means of FluoRescence Emitting Electrodes

Pre- and post-marketing data on drug side effects show that neurotoxicity and cardiotoxicity are frequently missed or underestimated during pre-clinical testing.

Neuro- and cardiotoxicity caused by pollutants including pesticides and industrial chemicals are equally difficult to assess. This results in suffering of individuals and in a considerable burden to society.

One of the main reasons is that currently available testing approaches have several shortcomings, including sensitivity, human-relevance and suitability for non-invasive long-term recording.This project will develop a revolutionary and fully non-invasive technology to record in-vitro electrical signals from human neuronal and cardiac cells.

High spatial resolution, combined with parallel recording of electrical signal coordination and propagation among thousands of neurons or cardiomyocytes, will allow the assessment and quantification of subtle disturbances by toxicants from the drug, pesticides and industrial chemicals sectors.

The full non-invasiveness will enable, for the first time, the long-term functional in-vitro monitoring of biologically relevant cellular models, paving the way toward the reliable assessment of chronic toxicities.The novel biosensing technique (VICE) will emerge from the efforts of nanotechnology developers in close collaboration with toxicologists and specialists in surface functionalization and electrophysiological data acquisition.

With its joint expertise, the consortium will continuously refine the VICE biosensor with innovative functionalities while thoroughly testing it in toxicology and pharmacologicy experiments.

This will not only lead to a revolutionary approach to monitor functions of heart and brain cells, but also ensure the direct applicability to relevant questions in safety sciences and pharmacology.

Ultimately, the project will elicit the future development of a whole new class of biosensors based on the groundbreaking concept of VICE.