Toxicological studies

Toxicological evaluation of therapeutic nanoscale carriers

Beyond their biological efficacy, the biocompatibility / absence of toxic or other unwanted side effects is a major pre-requisite for the therapeutic application of nanoscale carriers for gene therapy and gene targeting.

Our studies include

1. The assessment of the dose-dependent acute toxicity in vitro, including the determination of LD50 values in various tissue culture-based proliferation and toxicity assays

2. The comparison between dose-dependent biological activities and unwanted effects, and the establishment of structure-function relationships

3. The determination of immunostimulatory activities (e.g., various cytokine release assays)

4. The molecular, intracellular characterization of dose-dependent toxic effects (determination of the induction of apoptosis, caspase activation, uptake mechanisms, LDH release)

5. The initial evaluation of in vivo toxicity in mice (e.g., lethality, weight loss, local effects at the site of injection, other visible effects on phenotype or behavior)

6. The determination of liver toxicity (serum tests for liver enzymes) and immunostimulation in vivo

7. The assessment of genotoxicity (Ames test)