Immortalized human cells to model atrial fibrillation in vitro
Niels Harlaar is a PhD Candidate at the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology at the Leiden University Medical Center. Here, under the supervison of prof. dr. D.A. Pijnappels and dr. A.A.F. de Vries, he focusses on the conditional immortalization of human atrial cardiomyocytes for (among many other applications) in vitro modelling of atrial fibrillation. He has successfully generated, characterized and applied this technique of these conditionally immortalized human atrial myocyte lines to model atrial fibrillation in vitro.
Niels is nominated for the Hugo van Poelgeest prize 2022 for excellent research to replace animal testing.
Click here for more information on the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology.
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HealthInnovationIn vitro
Helpathon #8 – Can you help Margot?
Margot Beukers is the LymphChip program manager. Can you help Margot bring the field forward by sharing your experience with animal-free alternatives for Foetal Calf Serum and Matrigel?
Click on the link in the video to sign up and read more information on this Helpathon on the website (https://www.helpathonhotel.org/coming-up).
Meeting videos
HealthInnovationIn vitro
Helpathon #8 – Can you help Jasper?
Jasper Koning is doing research on skin diseases. He believes it must be possible to find an alternative to Foetal Calf Serum to grow immune cells. Can you help him find alternatives to Foetal Calf Serum so he can build human models animal free? Jasper is especially looking for researchers with practical experience in applying alternatives. He did some trials himself with mixed results.
Click on the link in the video to sign up and read more information on this Helpathon on the website (https://www.helpathonhotel.org/coming-up).
Meeting videos
HealthInnovationIn vitro
Helpathon #8 – Can you help Germaine?
Germaine Aalderink is investigating the uptake of lipids travelling from the gut into the lymphatic system and further explore the merits of this alternative drug intake strategy. Can you help Germaine make an intestinal and lymphatic model with an alternative for Matrigel that is animal-free? She wants to know what components are essential in each phase of intestinal development and is interested in both the positive and negative experiences of other researchers with the use of alternatives for Matrigel.
Click on the link in the video to sign up and read more information on this Helpathon on the website (https://www.helpathonhotel.org/coming-up).
Innovation examples
HealthInnovationIn vitro
Using skin and mucosa models to replace animal testing
The skin and mucosa are important tissues that differ between species in health and disease. The group of Sue Gibbs works on the development of advanced in vitro models that mimic these two tissues, specialising in immunity models and organ-on-a-chip technologies. They use skin models to study for example melanoma, skin allergies, eczema, burns and healing wounds. Dental models are used for the safety of materials used in dentistry, for example to test the quality of the implant and false tooth when it comes to attaching to the soft tissue. Their ambition is to expand into the field of multi-organ technology to make even more relevant models for the human skin and mucosa.
Click on the link in the video to watch more or read the interview with Sue he[https://vu.nl/en/research/more-about/using-skin-and-mucosa-models-to-replace-animal-testing]re.