Validation of a human cell based high-throughput genotoxicity assay 'Anthem's Genotoxicity screen' using ECVAM recommended lists of genotoxic and non-genotoxic chemicals.

A novel high throughput-enabled human cell based screen, Anthem's Genotoxicity screen, was developed to achieve higher specificity for predicting in vivo genotoxins by an in vitro method. The assay employs engineered human colon carcinoma cell line; HCT116 cells that are stably engineered with three promoter-reporter cassettes such that an increased reporter activity reflects the activation of associated signaling events in a human cell. The current study focuses on the evaluation of sensitivity and specificity of Anthem's Genotoxicity screen using 62 compounds recommended by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM).

Chikungunya virus: host pathogen interaction.

Chikungunya is a re-emerging arthropod-borne viral disease caused by Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) belonging to the Togaviridae family of genus Alphavirus. It is a virus with a single stranded, positive sense RNA, as its genome. It is maintained in a sylvatic and urban cycle involving humans and the mosquito species Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

Japanese encephalitis virus: from genome to infectome.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is an arbovirus belonging to the family Flaviviridae. It is maintained in a zoonotic cycle involving pigs, ardeid birds and Culex species of mosquitoes. Humans are accidental/dead end hosts of JEV infection because they cannot sustain high viral titers.