title: Expression of surface markers on the human monocytic leukaemia cell line, THP-1, as indicators for the sensitizing potential of chemicals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evaluation of skin sensitization potential is an important part of the safety assessment of cosmetic ingredients and topical drugs. Recently, evaluation of changes in surface marker expression induced in dendritic cells (DC) or DC surrogate cell lines following exposure to chemicals represents one approach for in vitro test methods.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to test the change of expression patterns of surface markers on THP-1 cells by chemicals as a predictive in vitro method for contact sensitization.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the expression of CD54, CD86, CD83, CD80, and CD40 after a 1-day exposure to sensitizers (1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene; 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene; benzocaine; 5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one; hexyl cinnamic aldehyde; eugenol; nickel sulfate hexahydrate; potassium dichromate; cobalt sulfate; 2-mercaptobenzothiazole; and ammonium tetrachloroplatinate) and non-sensitizers (sodium lauryl sulfate, benzalkonium chloride, lactic acid, salicylic acid, isopropanol, and dimethyl sulphoxide). The test concentrations were 0.1x, 0.5x, and 1x of the 50% inhibitory concentration, and the relative fluorescence intensity was used as an expression indicator.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By evaluating the expression patterns of CD54, CD86, and CD40, we could classify the chemicals as sensitizers or non-sensitizers, but CD80 and CD83 showed non-specific patterns of expression. These data suggest that the THP-1 cells are good model for screening contact sensitizers and CD40 could be a useful marker complementary to CD54 and CD86.
authors.affiliation: AmorePacific Corporation R&D Center, Yongin-si, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Susun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Seoyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: Tae Ryong
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Han-Kon
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kui-Lea
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hee Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Eun