J.B.F. van der Valk

Optimization of chemically defined cell culture media - Replacing fetal bovine serum in mammalian in vitro methods

Quality assurance is becoming increasingly important. Good laboratory practice (GLP) and good manufacturing practice (GMP) are now established standards. The biomedical field aims at an increasing reliance on the use of in vitro methods. Cell and tissue culture methods are generally fast, cheap, reproducible and reduce the use of experimental animals. Good cell culture practice (GCCP) is an attempt to develop a common standard for in vitro methods. The implementation of the use of chemically defined media is part of the GCCP. This will decrease the dependence on animal serum, a supplement with an undefined and variable composition. Defined media supplements are commercially available for some cell types. However, information on the formulation by the companies is often limited and such supplements can therefore not be regarded as completely defined. The development of defined media is difficult and often takes place in isolation. A workshop was organised in 2009 in Copenhagen to discuss strategies to improve the development and use of serum-free defined media. In this report, the results from the meeting are discussed and the formulation of a basic serum-free medium is suggested. Furthermore, recommendations are provided to improve information exchange on newly developed serum-free media.

Fourth meeting of the European Network of Research Tissue Banks – Future strategy to increase collaborations in the supply of human tissue for biomedical research

This report records the Fourth meeting of the European Network of Research Tissue Bank (Brussels, 18th March 2004) which was attended by Mel Read MEP. The existing membership of this informal group represents European Human Research Tissue Bankers, biomedical researchers seeking access to human tissue and allied groups including animal welfare representatives. This Fourth meeting provided a forum to update members on individual activity in this area. A particular focus of this meeting was to consider the status of this group and future affiliations to increase the profile and activity of this Network. This meeting addressed differences in legislative and ethical requirements governing the use of human tissue in biomedical research in the different countries represented. Future activity of the ENRTB, planned at this meeting, will target harmonisation of current differences which are currently barriers to increased access to human tissue for biomedical research. Through the harmonisation of procurement, processing and distribution of human tissue specimens the ENRTB will provide a mechanism to benefit human health through increased use of human tissue in pharmacotoxicological studies and the associated replacement of animal tests.

Neuroblastoma cells as possible model in the study of glutamate receptors

SummaryThe sensitivity of several cultured neuroblastoma cell lines toL-glutamate (Glu) and its analogues has been studied with the whole-cell patch clamp technique. Only in the neuroblastoma cell line N2A Glu induced a concentration dependent response consisting of an inward current. In addition, N2A cells responded to superfusion with kainate, quisqualate orN-methyl-D-aspartate, but to a lesser degree than to Glu. It is concluded that N2A cells could be useful as anin vitro model to study excitatory amino acid properties.

The Netherlands Centre Alternatives to Animal Use (NCA)

During the last 15 years, the number of animals used for scientific purposes in the Netherlands decreased by 50%. This reduction of animal use was partly due to the introduction of alternatives to animal experiments. The development and subsequent use of alternatives is stimulated by the Dutch Alternatives to Animal Experiments Platform. Since its establishment in 1988 the Platform funded over 65 projects on alternatives.