Tissue culture studies

1. The tissue culture facility has been studying the beneficial effect of stem cell implantation following ocular injury. To that end, limbal stem cells are isolated from corneal biopsies, cultivated and characterized. Following this process, stem cell implantation studies are carried out to determine the efficacy of this regenerative medicine strategy

2. Macrophage tissue cultures are used to determine the in-vitro toxicity of various insults and as a tool for screening potential treatments.​
   

3. Neuronal cell lines are used to determine the physiological effects of agonists and antagonists of neuronal receptors and to screen for potential treatments against excitotoxicity of nerve agents.

4. Skin cultures are used to study the efficacy of different treatments on skin proliferation following skin insults due to chemical burns.

5. The biochemical pharmacology and toxicology unit has been studying the effect of organophosphorus nerve agents (OPNA) and their medical antidotes and scavengers primarily on the cholinergic nervous system in vitro and in vivo. The studied biomarkers include target proteins in peripheral and central nerve system tissues such as cholinergic enzymes and receptors in muscle, kidney, heart and skin, as well as blood and brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), CNS muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic receptors, NMDA receptors, Benzodiazepine/GABA receptors as well as serum proteins e.g. albumin and alpha1-AGP. In these systems we evaluate the binding parameters of the various sub-types of the muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the CNS and PNS preparations as well as in cell lines and primary cultures.​