The DevTox Germ Layer Reporter Platform: An Assay Adaptation of the Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Test

Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Based Assays to Predict Developmental Toxicity

Human beings are continuously exposed to various toxic substances throughout their lives, which affect their reproductive health and eventually the offspring they give birth to. Mainly, these toxins damage the heart and neurological development of the newborn, but most recently, they have begun to affect the musculoskeletal system as well. These toxins are usually present in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or even the polluted air that people breathe; as a result, the prevalence of birth defects is steadily rising. For this reason, it becomes a necessity to deploy a new set of assays to test for such toxins in industries to decrease the occurrence of developmental toxicity. These assays are exceedingly expensive when carried out conventionally using animal models or cells from such sources and have a lower predictive value due to the vast variation between animals and humans. To overcome such major problems, human pluripotent stem cells are now frequently used for these assays. These cells are easily available, are quickly generated from somatic cells (induce pluripotent stem cells), can be of human origin without harming people, and eliminate animal harm, which makes them the top choice of scientists for carrying out any in vitro developmental toxicity assays.This chapter, therefore, provides an overview of several steps that can be used to predict a compound's developmental toxicity by utilizing human pluripotent stem cells. Here, the easiest and most effective procedure has been outlined that can screen many compounds simultaneously.

Human Maternal-Fetal Interface Cellular Models to Assess Antiviral Drug Toxicity during Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a period of elevated risk for viral disease severity, resulting in serious health consequences for both the mother and the fetus; yet antiviral drugs lack comprehensive safety and efficacy data for use among pregnant women. In fact, pregnant women are systematically excluded from therapeutic clinical trials to prevent potential fetal harm. Current FDA-recommended reproductive toxicity assessments are studied using small animals which often do not accurately predict the human toxicological profiles of drug candidates. Here, we review the potential of human maternal-fetal interface cellular models in reproductive toxicity assessment of antiviral drugs. We specifically focus on the 2- and 3-dimensional maternal placental models of different gestational stages and those of fetal embryogenesis and organ development. Screening of drug candidates in physiologically relevant human maternal-fetal cellular models will be beneficial to prioritize selection of safe antiviral therapeutics for clinical trials in pregnant women.