Cellular Dynamics Announces Presentations at the Society of Toxicology's 52nd Annual Meeting Demonstrating the Expanding Impact of iPSC-Derived Human Cells on Toxicology Assay Development

MADISON, Wis., March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), a leading commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines and tissue cells for drug discovery, safety, stem cell banking and cellular therapeutics, today announced scientific presentations at the Society of Toxicology's 52^nd Annual Meeting (SOT), March 10 to 14 in San Antonio, that demonstrate the expanding utility of CDI's iCell® products on toxicology assay development.

"Now that several iPSC-derived human cell types are reliably available in sufficient quantities and at high quality and purity, scientists from academia, government and industry are finding new ways to incorporate them into their toxicology assays," said Chris Parker, chief commercial officer of CDI.  "The scientific data presented at this conference are evidence of the increasing impact that the commercial availability of human cells is having on assay development for toxicity testing and validation of the cells' predictivity."

Researchers will present results on assays that use CDI's iCell Cardiomyocytes, iCell Neurons and iCell Hepatocytes in a variety of toxicology assays, including:

Chantest and ACEA Biosciences detail the use of the xCELLigence Cardio System to evaluate iCell Cardiomyocytes for sensitivity to compounds with broad mechanisms of action. (Exhibitor-hosted sessions, March 11, 9:15 - 10:15 a.m., and 1 - 2 p.m., Room 007B)

LeCluyse, E (The Hamner Institutes for Health Services) provides an overview on iPSC-derived hepatocytes, focusing on their utility in understanding hepatotoxicity mechanisms. (Exhibitor-hosted session, March 13, 1 - 2 p.m., Room 007 B)

Smith, G et al. (Abstract 85, poster 119; University of Glasgow and Clyde Biosciences) present data on the utility and suitability of a novel optical platform that when used in conjunction with iCell Cardiomyocytes can assess new chemical entity (NCE)-mediated proarrhythmia with an order of magnitude greater throughput than manual patch clamp methods without loss of sensitivity.

Sirenko, O et al. (Abstract 86, poster 120; Molecular Devices and University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill) describe methods for measuring the impact of drug compounds on iCell Cardiomyocytes' beat rate using fast kinetic fluorescence imaging, thus incorporating high throughput screening in proarrhythmia testing.

Qin, S et al. (Abstract 89, poster 123; Cyprotex and Axion Biosystems) demonstrate the use of multi-well multi-electrode arrays (MEAs) as an effective tool to screen for cardiotoxic liabilities in iCell Cardiomyocytes.

Yego, EK et al. (Abstract 363, poster 628; US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense) describe the feasibility of using miRNA microarray analysis to assess the effects of chemical warfare nerve agents on iCell Neurons.

Bradley, J et al. (Abstract 901, poster 203; Cyprotex and Axion Biosystems) demonstrate the use of multi-well MEAs to screen seizurogenic compounds on iCell Neurons to predict neural toxicity.

Wolfe, ML et al. (Abstract 1063, poster 508; MPI Research) discuss hepatotoxicity prediction using a high content imaging system to assess drug induced liver injury after treating human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep G2 cells, iCell Hepatocytes, and primary human hepatocytes with a variety of drug compounds.

Wilga, PC et al. (Abstract 1465, poster 522; CeeTox) describe a dual cell model (iCell Cardiomyocytes and HepaRG cells) that utilizes changes in cell health and function following exposure to a drug compound to differentiate heart toxicity from liver toxicity, demonstrating that the combined data predicted cardiac toxicity with greater confidence.

Doherty, K et al. (Abstract 1556, poster 617; Quintiles) demonstrate how a series of multi-parametric in vitro assays assessing cellular, molecular and electrophysiological endpoints on iCell Cardiomyocytes provide early and accurate assessment of cardiotoxicity.

About Cellular Dynamics International, Inc.
Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI) is a leading developer of stem cell technologies for in vitro drug development, in vivo cellular therapeutics, and stem cell banking. CDI harnesses its unique manufacturing technology to produce differentiated tissue cells in industrial quality, quantity and purity from any individual's stem cell line created from a standard blood draw. CDI was founded in 2004 by Dr. James Thomson, a pioneer in human pluripotent stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. CDI's facilities are located in Madison, Wisconsin. See www.cellulardynamics.com.

SOURCE Cellular Dynamics