Over the last few years, researchers have begun to transition from using traditional two-dimensional cell culture models for assessing drug induced liver injury (DILI) to more complex and relevant 3D cell culture models that are better able to predict toxicity liabilities. While there are many research groups that have developed their own custom inhouse 3D cell culture liver models, Corning Incorporated has spent considerable effort and resources developing and qualifying their 3D primary human hepatocyte (PHH) spheroids which researchers can now leverage for their studies. Through with Corning®, Visikol will utilize these models in its services and provide its Clients with the ability to use a qualified DILI model as well as its best-in-class high content imaging endpoints.
Liver toxicity is one of the manifestations of toxicological effects from pharmaceutical compounds and is a leading reason for drug attrition. The identification of potential toxicity at an early stage in drug discovery can save time and developmental costs, and most importantly reduce the likelihood of late-stage failure. Early identification of the toxicological effect of drug compounds allows pharma companies to eliminate liable drug compounds early in the drug discovery process, freeing more time and resources to be spent in the development of more promising lead candidates. Corning detailing the performance of their model and comparing it to 2D cell culture models which has shown its improved predictive capability.
While Visikol has offered liver 3D cell culture assays to its Clients for the last few years, these assays have been primarily focused on NASH and NALFD with multiplex high content confocal readouts. The addition of the Corning’s 3D PHH spheroids means that Visikol can now offer its Clients DILI assays ranging from high throughput ATP assays to lower throughput high content multiplex confocal imaging that leverages Visikol’s proprietary imaging and digital pathology tools.
As a contract research services company offering 3D cell culture assays, Visikol has always been agnostic to the types of diseases it works on as well as the models that are used in its services. The goal of the company has always been to provide its Clients with the best models that meet their specific cost, throughput and validation criteria. These models can be inhouse Visikol models, custom developed models, or models from a third party such as Corning.
“As a company, we have always felt that our model agnostic approach allows us to be truly unbiased in offering our Clients assay solutions and we are excited to enter into the agreement with Corning as we are now able to provide our Clients with a qualified and robust model for assessing DILI,” described Visikol Manager of In Vitro Services Peter Worthington, PhD. The model has been extensively tested with over a hundred compounds with known DILI effects and is offered at a price point equivalent to traditional 2D PHH assays. The Corning PHH spheroids will be available for use in Visikol’s assays immediately in standard assay formats as well as for use in custom assays with several types of readouts. If you are interested in learning more about this new assay capability, reach out to the Visikol team today.
About Visikol
Visikol is a contract research services company that is focused on accelerating drug discovery and development through the use of its imaging, digital pathology and advanced cell culture assay services. The company provides end-to-end preclinical services that include both 2D and 3D in vitro models and assays, 3D whole mount tissue imaging, multiplex imaging, high content imaging, digital pathology and custom drug discovery solutions. Visikol’s expertise is in transforming tissues and cells into large image-based data sets that can be mined for actionable insights such that pharmaceutical and biotech companies can make more quantitative and informed decision during the drug development process. Additionally, Visikol manufactures and sells a suite of tissue clearing reagents and 3D immuno-labeling kits. These products allow researchers to easily and rapidly image whole tissues and 3D cell culture models in 3D instead of traditional 2D sectioning.
