Dermatology / Cosmetics

The dermatology / cosmetics services are offered in co-operation with VivaCell.

Highly specialised and reliable skin models for testing cosmetics and pharmaceutical compounds (phytopharma) are offered. Modern and standardised in vitro protocols according to ethical guidelines provide the advantage over in vivo traditional models. Selected in vivo models are also available.

Dermatology / Cosmetics: in vitro Services

Models

• animal skin organ cultures
• bovine and rabbit isolated cornea
• human normal keratinocyte monolayer cultures
• human normal fibroblast monolayer cultures
• red blood cells
• reconstituted human epidermis
• cell lines: keratinocytes (HaCaT, NCTC2544, etc.), fibroblast (MRC5, 3T3, etc.), Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK), etc.
  

Toxicity

Parameters

• cytotoxicity:
  MTT
  Neutral Red
• membrane damage:
  red blood cell lysis
  protein denaturation
  

Trans-Epithelial Permeability Effect

Parameters

• changes in permeability is measured as the leakage of fluorescein through an epithelial barrier:
  cornea
  skin
  confluent cell monolayer
  

Phototoxicity or Protective Effects

Parameters

• changes in cell cultures or skin after an UV or visible light exposition:
  cytotoxicity and membrane damage
  oxygen radical production
  gluthation S-transferase activity of cells
  the complement photoactivation assay
  

Skin Firmness

Parameters

• measurement of adhesion molecules in cell cultures:
  keratinocytes
  fibroblasts
  

Extracellular Matrix Adhesion Assay

Parameters

• fluoresceinated cells are cultured on chambers coated with artificial extracellular matrix; fluorescence retained in such chambers after a short incubation period gives a measure of the capacity of cells to adhere in the presence of a test compound

Human Skin Fibroblast / Collagen Lattive Cytotoxicity Test

Parameters

• skin fibroblasts are incorporated into 3-d collagen lattices containing the test compounds; an inhibition of lattice contraction gives an indication of the deleterious effect of the compound under test

Healing and Migration Assay

Parameters

• the capacity to regenerate a "wound" in a cell monolayer culture or the capacity of cell to migrate across a porous membrane is measured

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