title: In vitro models for assessing neurotoxicity of mixtures.
abstract: Rapid and inexpensive methods are needed to investigate the interactions of complex mixtures. This commentary addresses the use of cell cultures to detect neurotoxicity of simple binary mixtures, which is a first step in the development of such methods. A small number of recent studies from our laboratory are examined. Though such studies are few, they offer guidance for optimizing the value of cell cultures as systems for chemical toxicity screening and mechanistic research. The same issues that apply to in vitro neurotoxicity studies of single agents also apply to the study of mixtures, such as relevance of endpoints tested, biological usefulness and limitations of cell culture models, and relevance of exposures tested. In this commentary we will focus on several aspects of these issues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. ecastiglioni@cvm.tamu.edu
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tiffany-Castiglioni
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Yongchang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Donnelly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods