Mouse embryonic stem cell adherent cell differentiation and cytotoxicity assay.

There are thousands of environmental chemicals for which there is limited toxicological information, motivating the development and application of in vitro systems to profile the biological effects of xenobiotic exposure and predict their potential developmental hazard. An adherent cell differentiation and cytotoxicity (ACDC) assay was developed using pluripotent mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to evaluate chemical-induced effects on both stem cell viability and differentiation. This assay uses an In-Cell Western technique after a 9-day culture.

Update on EPA's ToxCast program: providing high throughput decision support tools for chemical risk management.

The field of toxicology is on the cusp of a major transformation in how the safety and hazard of chemicals are evaluated for potential effects on human health and the environment. Brought on by the recognition of the limitations of the current paradigm in terms of cost, time, and throughput, combined with the ever increasing power of modern biological tools to probe mechanisms of chemical-biological interactions at finer and finer resolutions, 21st century toxicology is rapidly taking shape. A key element of the new approach is a focus on the molecular and cellular pathways that are the targets of chemical interactions.