Genetically Engineered Cell Lines: Characterisation and Applications in Toxicity Testing The Report and Recommendations of ECVAM Workshop 26

Friedrich J. Wiebel, Tommy B. Andersson, Daniel A. Casciano, Maurice Dickins, Volker Fischer, Hansruedi Glatt, Jean Horbach, Robert J. Langenbach, Walter Luyten, Gino Turchi and Alain Vandewalle

This is the report of the twenty-sixth of a series of workshops organised by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM). The objectives of the workshop were to: a) review the current status of genetically engineered cell lines, with an emphasis on mammalian cell lines expressing xenobiotic metabolising enzymes; b) discuss the construction of genetically engineered cell lines, including those derived from transgenic animals; c) review current applications of genetically engineered cell lines in the drug development process; d) make recommendations for the further development of genetically engineered cell lines; and e) propose initiatives for: i) standardising the nomenclature of recombinant cell systems; ii) standardising, validating and ensuring the quality control of the systems; and iii) making them more readily available to the scientific community.