Dendritic Cells as a Tool for the Predictive Identification of Skin Sensitisation Hazard The Report and Recommendations of ECVAM Workshop 51

Silvia Casati, Pierre Aeby, David A. Basketter, Andrea Cavani, Alessandra Gennari, G. Frank Gerberick, Peter Griem, Thomas HartungIan Kimber, Jean-Pierre Lepoittevin, B. Jean Meade, Marc Pallardy, Nathalie Rougier, Francoise Rousset,Gilles Rubinstenn,Federica Sallusto,Geert R. Verheyen and Valérie Zuang

This is the report of the fifty-first of a series of workshops organised by the European Centre forthe Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). The workshop on dendritic cells as a tool for the predictive identification of skin sensitisation hazard was held at ECVAM (Ispra, Italy) on 7–8 April 2004, with participants derived from academia, national organisations, and industry. The aim of the workshop was to review the state of the art of the use of cultured dendritic cells for the identification of skin sensitisation hazard, and to develop strategies for the eventual replacement of in vivo testing. At the end of this report are listed the recommendations that should be considered for progressing toward the prevalidation and validation of relevant and reliable procedures, that could in the future replace the use of animals in the skin sensitisation testing of chemicals and cosmetic products.