Murine embryonic stem cells as a model for in vitro developmental neurotoxicity

Summary We established a robust and reproducible method for differentiation of mouseembryonic stem cells (line D3) into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.The differentiation protocol was successfully adapted to a 96-well plate format, thusproviding the opportunity of performing higher throughput analysis.The predictive toxicological endpoints of differentiation and proliferation wereestablished in our assay.Preliminary chemical testing with positive and negative model compounds showdiffering effects on neural cell differentiation in vitro, thus mirroring their differingdevelopmental neurotoxicity in vivo .Our assay based on mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation in vitro might proveuseful as component of a complex modular in vitro test system for developmentalneurotoxicity testing.