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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 30, 2026

Generation of Neurospheres from Mixed Primary Hippocampal and Cortical Neurons Isolated from E14-E16 Sprague Dawley Rat Embryo
12:22

Generation of Neurospheres from Mixed Primary Hippocampal and Cortical Neurons Isolated from E14-E16 Sprague Dawley Rat Embryo

Published on: August 31, 2019

Neurospheres as a model for developmental neurotoxicity testing.

Ellen Fritsche1, Kathrin Gassmann, Timm Schreiber

  • 1Group of Toxicology, Leibniz Research Insitute for Environmental Medicine at the Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany. Ellen.fritsche@uni-duesseldorf.de

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)
|August 5, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Environmental chemicals pose a threat to human health through developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). The neurosphere assay offers a promising in vitro alternative to animal testing for predicting DNT risks.

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Last Updated: May 30, 2026

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Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Based Developmental Toxicity Assays for Chemical Safety Screening and Systems Biology Data Generation

Published on: June 17, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Toxicology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) from environmental chemicals is a significant public health concern.
  • Current in vivo animal testing for DNT is costly, time-consuming, and faces extrapolation challenges due to species differences.
  • There is a critical need for efficient and reliable in vitro alternatives for DNT assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present the neurosphere assay as a viable in vitro method for assessing developmental neurotoxicity.
  • To describe the methodologies for evaluating chemical impacts on DNT-specific endpoints using this assay.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing neurospheres, which are three-dimensional cultures of neural progenitor cells, to mimic early brain development.
  • Assessing key developmental processes including proliferation, migration, differentiation, and apoptosis within the neurosphere model.
  • Determining the effects of chemical exposures on these DNT-specific endpoints.

Main Results:

  • The neurosphere assay effectively mimics fundamental processes of brain development.
  • These developmental processes within neurospheres can be disrupted by chemical agents, indicating potential DNT.
  • The described methods allow for the determination of chemical effects on DNT endpoints.

Conclusions:

  • The neurosphere assay is a promising in vitro tool for developmental neurotoxicity testing.
  • This method offers a faster, cheaper, and more ethical alternative to traditional animal studies.
  • The described methodologies provide a framework for robust in vitro DNT risk assessment.