Test Applications in an Organotypic Environment A Novel Test Concept for In Vitro Pharmacotoxicology	TAO Home
TAO Home The Concept Test Design Human Tissue Highlights Contact Overview (PDF)			Why use human tissues for drug testing? During the drug validation process, the patient's benefit from candidate molecules is finally determined in clinical studies. These studies reveal whether a potential new drug will be of economic value. Despite years of preceding evaluation and meticulous testing in cells and animals, it is not uncommon that a candidate molecule shows unexpected severe side effects once administered to patients in the clinical trial. Tissue culture protocols that employ human material provide a novel opportunity to improve the transfer of in vitro test results to the situation in the patient organism. While the use of tissue culture by itself can enhance test results by taking into account the tissue-specific cell composition, the use of human tissue culture for drug testing adds the opportunity to conduct these screens in the species-specific context.
			How is human tissue made available for research? Several institutions are currently establishing or have already established tissue banks dedicated to supply researchers with materials of human origin. The following links provide some overview of the issue. ECVAM (European Commission for the Validation of Alternative Methods) hosts key references and resources concerning the ethical and scientific prerequisites for the implementation of human tissue banks. The University Of Michigan Human Breast Cell/Tissue Bank and Data Base features a collection of breast cancer cells and tissues. The Western Pennsylvania Prostate Tissue Bank offers access to prostate cancer material. The Warsaw Medical University Department of Transplantology Medical Tissue Bank provides organs and tissues not only for transplantation, but also for research purposes. The UK Human Tissue Bank (UK HTB), a non-profit organisation based at De Montfort University, Leicester, is planning to supply tissue particularly for culture purposes.
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			Contact and Inquiries Inquiries regarding the TAO in vitro tissue culture test concept or licensing opportunities are kindly requested. Find out more about the author's scientific expertise. Sabine Kloth, PhD Goldshausener Str. 1a D-85417 Marzling GERMANY Phone: +49-8161-65968
			German and US Patents © 2003 Sabine Kloth