The hemolysis assay remarkably predicts the inflammatory potential of inhaled particles. The capacity of particles to damage cellular membranes is a key property to predict their inflammatory potential upon inhalation. In macrophages and epithelial cells exposed to particles, alteration of the

Last updated on: 15-11-2019 - 16:15

Contact: Dominique Lison
Organisation: Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)
Status: History of use, Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
TEM, NTA and western blot were used to characterize the purified inflammation‐associated EV subpopulations from TNF-α treated HUVEC based on their sedimentation speeds (10K and110K) and surface markers (CDs and ICAM-1). Protein arrays were used to discover the immunomodulatory content of

Last updated on: 14-11-2019 - 14:02

Organisation: University of Hasselt (UHasselt)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal, Currently submitted for further validation by an external party (e.g. OECD, EURL ECVAM,…)
FIBEr (Flanders Institute for Biomechanical Experimentation) is a laboratory that investigates the mechanical properties (stiffness, strength, microstructure) of biological tissue, in casu bones, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, etc. A quantitative characterization of the mechanical behavior of

Last updated on: 12-11-2019 - 11:45

Contact: Nele Famaey
Organisation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Partners: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Status: Still in development, History of use, Internally validated
Integrated approach for the characterization,validation and monitoring of protein biomarkers in animal tissue samples as well as on human tissue samples. The ''cell-block'' technique allows the study of cell lines with the same approach. The methodology involves histological and standardized

Last updated on: 12-11-2019 - 11:37

Contact: Cédric Balsat
Organisation: Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Partners: Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Epigenetics have taken centre stage in the study of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegeneration. A new field is emerging that targets epigenetic modifications for therapeutic intervention: pharmacoepigenetics. Particularly in oncology, inhibitors of epigenetic-modifying proteins, i.e.

Last updated on: 12-11-2019 - 11:34

Contact: Maarten Dhaenens
Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Status: Still in development, Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
The aim of these in vitro digestions is to simulate the gastrointestinal digestion of specific food sources and to identify metabolites that might be formed out of this food source by the residing microbiome. For this purpose, fecal samples will be collected from volunteers and will be prepared as

Last updated on: 12-11-2019 - 10:56

Contact: Lynn Vanhaecke
Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
VITO can offer expertise in animal-free methods for inhalation testing. VITO has an Air-Liquid Interface (ALI) platform with three ALI exposure modules: two commercial systems for bronchial studies and one in-house developed system for lower airway studies. At VITO ALI exposure modules, aerosol

Last updated on: 08-11-2019 - 14:08

Organisation: Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO)
Partners: Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO)
Status: History of use, Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
Cells are treated with compounds and after a specific incubation time the MTT reagent is added. In living cells, the MTT is reduced to the purple formazan. The amount of formazan is related to the amount of living cells. Next, the medium and MTT reagent are aspirated and DMSO is added after which

Last updated on: 08-11-2019 - 14:06

Contact: Yorick Janssens
Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal
Transport kinetics accross the skin and/or mucosa is investigated using Franz diffusion cells and LC-UV/MS detection of the investigated molecule in the receptor compartment.

Last updated on: 08-11-2019 - 14:05

Contact: Yorick Janssens
Organisation: Ghent University (UGent)
Status: Internally validated, Published in peer reviewed journal
A compound of interest (e.g. new psychoactive substance, endocrine disrupting compound, ...) is incubated with human liver microsomes and liver cytosolic fractions to generate both Phase I and II metabolites. Samples are prepared for analysis using a simple method in order to avoid possible losses

Last updated on: 08-11-2019 - 14:01

Organisation: University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen)
Status: Published in peer reviewed journal