We report on a functional human model to evaluate multi-organ toxicity in a 4-organ system under continuous flow conditions in a serum-free defined medium utilizing a pumpless platform for 14 days. Computer simulations of the platform established flow rates and resultant shear stress within accepted ranges. Viability of the system was demonstrated for 14 days as well as functional activity of cardiac, muscle, neuronal and liver modules. The pharmacological relevance of the integrated modules were evaluated for their response at 7 days to 5 drugs with known side effects after a 48 hour drug treatment regime. The results of all drug treatments were in general agreement with published toxicity results from human and animal data. The presented phenotypic culture model exhibits a multi-organ toxicity response, representing the next generation of in vitro systems, and constitutes a step towards an in vitro “human-on-a-chip” assay for systemic toxicity screening.

Twenty-six strains of 22 bacterial species were tested for growth on trypticase soy agar (TSA) or sea-salt agar (SSA) under hypobaric, psychrophilic, and anoxic conditions applied singly or in combination. As each factor was added to multi-parameter assays, the interactive stresses decreased the numbers of strains capable of growth and, in general, reduced the vigor of the strains observed to grow. Only Serratia liquefaciens strain ATCC 27592 exhibited growth at 7 mbar, 0°C, and CO 2 -enriched anoxic atmospheres. To discriminate between the effects of desiccation and hypobaria, vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis strain 168 and Escherichia coli strain K12 were grown on TSA surfaces and simultaneously in liquid Luria-Bertani (LB) broth media. Inhibition of growth under hypobaria for 168 and K12 decreased in similar ways for both TSA and LB assays as pressures were reduced from 100 to 25 mbar. Results for 168 and K12 on TSA and LB are interpreted to indicate a direct lowpressure effect on microbial growth with both species and do not support the hypothesis that desiccation alone on TSA was the cause of reduced growth at low pressures. The growth of S. liquefaciens at 7 mbar, 0°C, and CO 2 -enriched anoxic atmospheres was surprising since S. liquefaciens is ecologically a generalist that occurs in terrestrial plant, fish, animal, and food niches. In contrast, two extremophiles tested in the assays, Deinococcus radiodurans strain R1 and Psychrobacter cryohalolentis strain K5, failed to grow under hypobaric (25 mbar; R1 only), psychrophilic (0°C; R1 only), or anoxic ( < 0.1% ppO 2 ; both species) conditions.

Escherichia coli and Serratia liquefaciens, two bacterial spacecraft contaminants known to replicate under low atmospheric pressures of 2.5 kPa, were tested for growth and survival under simulated Mars conditions. Environmental stresses of high salinity, low temperature, and low pressure were screened alone and in combination for effects on bacterial survival and replication, and then cells were tested in Mars analog soils under simulated Mars conditions. Survival and replication of E. coli and S. liquefaciens cells in liquid medium were evaluated for 7 days under low temperatures (5, 10, 20, or 30°C) with increasing concentrations (0, 5, 10, or 20%) of three salts (MgCl 2 , MgSO 4 , NaCl) reported to be present on the surface of Mars. Moderate to high growth rates were observed for E. coli and S. liquefaciens at 30 or 20°C and in solutions with 0 or 5% salts. In contrast, cell densities of both species generally did not increase above initial inoculum levels under the highest salt concentrations (10 and 20%) and the four temperatures tested, with the exception that moderately higher cell densities were observed for both species at 10% MgSO 4 maintained at 20 or 30°C. Growth rates of E. coli and S. liquefaciens in low salt concentrations were robust under all pressures (2.5, 10, or 101.3 kPa), exhibiting a general increase of up to 2.5 orders of magnitude above the initial inoculum levels of the assays. Vegetative E. coli cells were maintained in a Mars analog soil for 7 days under simulated Mars conditions that included temperatures between 20 and ؊50°C for a day/night diurnal period, UVC irradiation (200 to 280 nm) at 3.6 W m ؊2 for daytime operations (8 h), pressures held at a constant 0.71 kPa, and a gas composition that included the top five gases found in the martian atmosphere. Cell densities of E. coli failed to increase under simulated Mars conditions, and survival was reduced 1 to 2 orders of magnitude by the interactive effects of desiccation, UV irradiation, high salinity, and low pressure (in decreasing order of importance). Results suggest that E. coli may be able to survive, but not grow, in surficial soils on Mars.The search for extant life on Mars remains a stated goal of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology Institutes (13,17). Intrinsic within such a life detection strategy is a requirement to understand how terrestrial life might survive, replicate, and proliferate on Mars. To mitigate the risks of the forward contamination of Mars, the bioloads on spacecrafts targeted for landing must be reduced to low density and diversity (4, 7). Planetary protection guidelines are designed to prevent both the forward contamination of the martian surface and to ensure the scientific integrity of any deployed life detection experiments. To date, 12 spacecraft have landed or crashed onto the Mars surface as a result of U.S., Russian, and European space program missions, but it is currently unknown if terrestrial microorganisms typically found on spacecraft surfaces can grow and replicate under con...

Chronic intermittent ethanol consumption is associated with neurodegeneration and cognitive deficits in preclinical laboratory animals and in the clinical population. While previous work suggests a role for neuroadaptations in the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor in the development of ethanol dependence and manifestation of withdrawal, the relative roles of ethanol exposure and ethanol withdrawal in producing these effects have not been fully characterized. To examine underlying cytotoxic mechanisms associated with CIE exposure, organotypic hippocampal slices were exposed to 1–3 cycles of ethanol (50 mM) in cell culture medium for 5 days, followed by 24-hours of ethanol withdrawal in which a portion of slices were exposed to competitive NMDA receptor antagonist (2R)-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV; 40 µM). Cytotoxicity was assessed using immunohistochemical labeling of neuron specific nuclear protein (NeuN; Fox-3), a marker of mature neurons, and thionine (2%) staining of Nissl bodies. Multiple cycles of CIE produced neurotoxicity, as reflected in persisting losses of neuron NeuN immunoreactivity and thionine staining in each of the primary cell layers of the hippocampal formation. Hippocampi aged in vitro were significantly more sensitive to the toxic effects of multiple CIEs than were non-aged hippocampi. This effect was not demonstrated in slices exposed to continuous ethanol, in the absence of withdrawal, or to a single exposure/withdrawal regimen. Exposure to APV significantly attenuated the cytotoxicity observed in the primary cell layers of the hippocampus. The present findings suggest that ethanol withdrawal is required to produce NMDA receptor-dependent hippocampal cytotoxicity, particularly in the aging hippocampus in vitro.

Pre-clinical testing of drug candidates in animal models is expensive, time-consuming, and often fails to predict drug effects in humans. Industry and academia alike are working to build human-based in vitro test beds and advanced high throughput screening systems to improve the translation of preclinical results to human drug trials. Human neurons derived from induced pluripotent stems cells (hiPSCs) are readily available for use within these test-beds and high throughput screens, but there remains a need to robustly evaluate cellular behavior prior to their incorporation in such systems. This study reports on the characterization of one source of commercially available hiPSC-derived neurons, iCell(®) Neurons, for their long-term viability and functional performance to assess their suitability for integration within advanced in vitro platforms. The purity, morphology, survival, identity, and functional maturation of the cells utilizing different culture substrates and medium combinations were evaluated over 28 days in vitro (DIV). Patch-clamp electrophysiological data demonstrated increased capacity for repetitive firing of action potentials across all culture conditions. Significant differences in cellular maturity, morphology, and functional performance were observed in the different conditions, highlighting the importance of evaluating different surface types and growth medium compositions for application in specific in vitro protocols.