Skin Sensitisation Tests

Scantox provides in chemico and in vitro services for investigating key events of the skin sensitisation adverse outcome pathway (AOP). Using this battery of assays enables weight-of-evidence approaches to be adopted for the hazard assessment of potential skin sensitisers without using laboratory animals. Our team of experts can help you deliver the correct combination of these assays for your project, along with the interpretation of the results with regard to the AOP. Through our comprehensive services, we ensure accurate identification and assessment of skin sensitisation potential, helping you meet safety and regulatory requirements efficiently.

Key events

Together, these key events, either in sequence and/or combination, describe the molecular, cellular, and tissue-level processes that cause a susceptible individual to become sensitised to a chemical after exposure.

Service information

DPRA

The OECD 442C direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA) investigates the molecular initiating event of the AOP for skin sensitisation – Haptenation. Utilising HPLC, the potential for the reactivity of a test substance to cysteine and lysine peptides is detected. Depletion of these peptides via test substance reactivity is used to support the discrimination between skin sensitisers and non-sensitisers.

KeratinoSens^TM

The KerationSens™ assay is a gene reporter assay investigating key event two in the skin sensitisation AOP – Keratinocyte Activation. Utilising a luciferase reporter for the Keap1-Nrf2-Antioxidant/Electrophile Response Element, test substances are assessed for their ability to activate this signalling pathway. Utilising a 96-well microplate format, this assay enables using low amounts of the test substance coupled with high-throughput detection to assess the skin-sensitising potential of test materials.

h-CLAT (human Cell Line Activation Test)

The h-CLAT assay investigates the third key event of the skin sensitisation AOP—Dendritic Cell Activation. Utilising the monocytic THP-1 cell line, the ability of a test substance to modulate the expression of CD54 and CD86 cell surface markers is assessed by flow cytometry. Upregulation of these cell surface markers is associated with dendritic cell activation and stimulates an immune response required to sensitise the skin to test substances.