3D-IVMA Project

Proliferative human hepatocyte spheroids: an innovative in vitro tool for the evaluation of hepatic mutagenesis
Funded by ITMO Cancer/INSERM.

Today there is increasing societal pressure on the use of animal models for research purposes. Since 2010, the European regulation on animal testing (Directive No. 2010/63/EU) has established three fundamental principles (‘3Rs rule’: reduce, replace, refine) and contributed to the development of alternative methods and the rational use of animals. Thus, new in vitro three-dimensional cellular systems have appeared which very faithfully imitate the organ of interest: spheroids. In this context, the 3D-IVMA project (3D spheroids of proliferative human hepatocytes: an innovative In Vitro tool for hepato-Mutagenesis Assessment), coordinated by Dr Sophie Langouët (IRSET, Rennes), aims to validate an innovative 3D model of human hepatocytes for the analysis of genotoxicity related to chemical-induced human hepatic carcinogenesis.