What is toxicology?
Toxicology is the study of adverse effects of natural or man-made chemicals on living organism. It is a growing concern in our world today as we are exposed to more and more chemicals, both in our environment and in the products we use.
Many of these chemicals are known to be harmful to human health and there is evidence that they may be linked to a wide range of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases such as Autism and Parkinsons.
Toxicology is therefore a vital science that helps us to navigate the ever-growing chemical landscape.

See how the FLIPR® Penta and ImageXpress® Micro Confocal Systems are used to obtain robust multi-parameter cytotoxicity data.
Safer and faster drug development with cell-based toxicity assessment methods
The study of toxic substances and their effects on living organisms is essential for developing safe medications and understanding the health consequences of exposure to toxic chemicals. Toxicologists work at the cutting edge of science, searching for new ways to identify and assess the risks posed by potentially harmful substances. In many cases, their work leads directly to improved public health and safety.
Toxicity assessment plays a critical role in the development of new drugs, as many potential treatments are found to be toxic in early clinical trials. In fact, over one-third of developing drugs fail due to toxicity, making early detection essential to bringing safe and effective treatments to market.
While toxicity testing on mice and rats is the standard method for assessing the safety of a new drug, there are limitations to this approach. Animal studies are slow as only a few compounds can be tested at a time. In addition, the physiology of humans is quite different from animals, so the results obtained are often not representative.
Shifting to cell-based testing allows for multiple chemicals to be tested rapidly and better represents human biology. 3D organoids are especially useful due to their high complexity and better resemblance to human tissue structure and function. Consequently, moving away from animal testing and towards cell-based methods could provide more accurate results, saving time, money, and most importantly, lives.
Cell-based toxicity assays
- Cell health assays
These can be performed in traditional cell culture format using cell lines or primary cells or by using more sophisticated iPSC stem cells. Cells are exposed to chemical substances in multiwell plates, and cell health and death can be evaluated using MTT assays, cell titer glow assays, plate reader assays, imaging methods, live-dead assays, and apoptosis assays.
- Cell viability and morphology assays
Cells are assessed by imaging methods, where cell count, cell area, or nuclear shape can be used for the evaluation of potential toxic effects.
- Neurite outgrowth
High content analysis can be used to detect cell death as well as measure neuronal growth and sprouting to evaluate and determine more complex toxic effects on neuronal cells.
- Changes in cell organelles
Changes in nuclear shape, micronuclei, and disruption of mitochondria can be quantitated by using automated imaging and advanced imaging tools. These are sophisticated studies but provide excellent results.
- E-Phys, CA2+ imaging and other functional assays
It’s important to detect impact of chemical substances on cell functionality. Many toxicants are ion channel blockers, therefore potential toxic effects can be detected by means of electrophysiology and calcium imaging.
Integrative in vitro assessment of cardiotoxicity
This workflow helps illustrate an integrative in vitro assay using human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes for the high-throughput screening of several diverse classes of environmental chemicals and drugs (i.e. NTP screening library). Chemical effects on cardiomyocyte contractility were determined by Ca2+ flux measurements in combination with high-content imaging to evaluate concentration-dependent effects on cardiomyocyte physiology, mitochondrial membrane potential, and cell viability. Phenotypic descriptors were used for quantitative toxicity profiling. And for data evaluation, concentration values can be utilized for bioactivity grouping and ranking of the chemicals and visualized with data interpretation software.
Learn more about this study, In Vitro Cardiotoxicity Assessment of Environmental Chemicals Using an Organotypic Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Model.
Featured topics to advance your toxicity assessment research
At Molecular Devices, we understand that in order to obtain greater insights, you need the right toxicity assessment tools. That's why we provide a range of solutions designed to record data in a multitude of ways. Our imaging instruments take pictures of cells and allow for detailed analysis, while our ePhys instruments provide fast kinetic readings. Our plate readers can take measurements in luminescence, fluorescence, or other read modes, and our automation solution helps increase the speed and efficiency of testing. Plus, our analysis tools help detect changes and provide basic statistical analysis. With the right tools from Molecular Devices, you'll be able to obtain the insights you need to take your research to the next level.
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Cancer and Tissue Research
There is increasing interest in using 3D spheroids for modeling cancer and tissue biology to accelerate translational research. Learn more about the high-throughput, high-content imaging and analysis methods being used to help advance this work:
Learn more:
Cardiotoxicity
The assessment of cardiotoxicity is important in the early stages of drug discovery to eliminate potentially toxic compounds from further development. This is critical to reduce the inefficiencies and high costs associated with compounds that fail during cardiac safety assessment.
Learn about in vitro cardiotoxicity assays that use biologically relevant 3D cell-based models that are suitable for high-throughput screening.
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Liver Toxicity
Liver damage is one of the leading causes of drug attrition, and so it is essential to identify compounds that may cause liver toxicity as early as possible in the drug development process.
Learn more about high-content 3D assays and image analysis that show promise as a sensitive and reproducible screening tool for assessing hepatotoxicity:
- Phenotypic Characterization of Toxic Compound Effects on Liver Spheroids Derived from iPSC Using Confocal Imaging and Three-Dimensional Image Analysis
- Phenotypic Assessment of Toxicity Using a Human Hepatocyte Co-Culture Model
- High-content 3D toxicity assay using iPSC-derived hepatocyte spheroids
- Phenotypic Characterization of Compound Effects on iPSC-derived Cardiac and Liver Spheroids Using Fast Kinetic Fluorescence and 3D Image Analysis
- High-Content Assay Multiplexing for Toxicity Screening in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Hepatocytes
Neurotoxicity
While there are many ways to test for neurotoxicity, most current methods are simplistic and do not accurately reflect the complex processes that occur in the body. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop more predictive in vitro assays that can screen larger sets of compounds with the potential for neurotoxicity.
Learn more about using induced pluripotent stem cell-based neurite outgrowth assays, which can be used to assess neuronal development:
- Functional and Mechanistic Neurotoxicity Profiling Using Human iPSC-Derived Neural 3D Cultures
- Neurite Outgrowth in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons as a High-Throughput Screen for Developmental Neurotoxicity or Neurotoxicity
- Functional evaluation of neurotoxic and neuroactive compound effects in iPSC-derived 3D neural co-cultures
- Assessment of neurotoxicity and neuronal development using induced pluripotent stem cell-based neurite outgrowth assay
- Calcium flux assay for in vitro neurotoxicity studies and drug screening
- In vitro platform for high-throughput screening of neurons enables automation of neurotoxicity assays
- AI-based analysis of complex biological phenotypes
- High-content screening of neuronal toxicity using iPSC-derived human neurons
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Organoid Toxicity Research
Drug-induced organ toxicity is one of the main causes of pharmaceutical candidates failing to make it to market. Having highly predictive assays for safety and efficacy testing are crucial for improving drug development and reducing drug candidate attrition.
Learn more:
- Capturing the complexity of 3D biology: Organoids for disease modeling and toxicity research
- Toxicity studies of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and neuronal spheroids
- Toxicity assays using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cells
- Lung organoids as an assay model for in vitro assessment of toxicity effects by 3D high-content imaging and analysis
- 3D organoids for biologic research and disease modeling
Resources for Toxicology
Blog
How 3D Cell Models Will Shape the Future of Drug Discovery
How 3D Cell Models Will Shape the Future of Drug Discovery
Target discovery and drug development rely heavily on 2D cell and animal models to decipher efficacy and toxic effect of drug candidates. Yet, 90% of candidates fail to make it past…
News
Molecular Devices inks deal with HUB Organoids to advance automated intestinal organoid screening technology
Molecular Devices inks deal with HUB Organoids to advance automated intestinal organoid screening technology
SAN JOSE, Calif., and UTRECHT, Netherlands, Feb. 13, 2023 – Molecular Devices, LLC., a leading provider of high-performance life science solutions, and HUB Organoids (HUB), the pioneer in th…
Blog
3D organoids and automation of complex cell assays [Podcast]
3D organoids and automation of complex cell assays [Podcast]
As we enter the era of sophisticated drug discovery with gene therapy and personalized medicine, we need to be prepared to study complex diseases, assess the therapeutic effect of…
Publications
Gene editing in organoids: accounting for complexity in drug discovery
Gene editing in organoids: accounting for complexity in drug discovery
More researchers are using gene editing to build disease models that better represent human tissues' complex biology, signaling a shift away from 2D cell culture or animal models to organoid…
Publications
Improving Drug Development: Molecular Devices and Cellesce Aim to Advance the Use of Organoids
Improving Drug Development: Molecular Devices and Cellesce Aim to Advance the Use of Organoids
Following our acquisition of Cellesce Ltd, Tanya Samazan from Instrument Business Outlook dove deep into conversation with Molecular Devices President Susan Murphy and Cellesce CEO Vicky Mar…
Publications
How cardioids can usher in the next generation of drug discovery
How cardioids can usher in the next generation of drug discovery
We recently partnered with HeartBeat.bio to automate and scale the production of cardioids — 3D cell models of the heart that can more accurately recapitulate human biology. Labiotech.eu spo…
Scientific Poster
In vitro platform for high-throughput screening of neurons enables automation of neurotoxicity assays
In vitro platform for high-throughput screening of neurons enables automation of neurotoxicity assays
Our first-in-class automated 7-factor neuronal profiling assay enables comprehensive quantitative description of neuronal health. NeuroHTS™ maximizes the capacity of imaging-type of assays a…
Application Note
Lung organoids as an assay model for in vitro assessment of toxicity effects by 3D high-content imaging and analysis
Lung organoids as an assay model for in vitro assessment of toxicity effects by 3D high-content imaging and analysis
Organoid models have increasingly gained popularity in biologic research and screening to recapitulate complexity of real tissues. To model the in vivo human lungs, we have cultured primary…
Application Note
High-throughput screening of 3D cell cultures with multiple high density scaffold-free spheroids for cancer toxicity studies
High-throughput screening of 3D cell cultures with multiple high density scaffold-free spheroids for cancer toxicity studies
3D spheroid models for cancer research are gaining popularity because they better mimic the in vivo tissue architecture, gene expression and metabolic profile of tumors compared to…
Scientific Poster
AI-based analysis of complex biological phenotypes
AI-based analysis of complex biological phenotypes
Cell-based phenotypic assays have become an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional in vitro and in vivo testing in pharmaceutical drug development and toxicological safety assess…
Scientific Poster
Automated Long-term 3D Cell-Based Toxicity Studies Using a Flowchip System
Automated Long-term 3D Cell-Based Toxicity Studies Using a Flowchip System
There is an increasing interest in using three-dimensional (3D) cell structures for modeling tumors, organs, and tissue to accelerate translation research.1 Significant progress has been mad…
Application Note
Functional evaluation of neurotoxic and neuroactive compound effects in iPSC-derived 3D neural co-cultures
Functional evaluation of neurotoxic and neuroactive compound effects in iPSC-derived 3D neural co-cultures
There is increasing interest in using more complex, biologically-relevant, and predictive cell-based platforms for assay development and compound screening.
Publications
Functional and Mechanistic Neurotoxicity Profiling Using Human iPSC-Derived Neural 3D Cultures
Functional and Mechanistic Neurotoxicity Profiling Using Human iPSC-Derived Neural 3D Cultures
Neurological disorders affect millions of people worldwide and appear to be on the rise. Whereas the reason for this increase remains unknown, environmental factors are a suspected contribut…
Application Note
Calcium flux assay for in vitro neurotoxicity studies and drug screening
Calcium flux assay for in vitro neurotoxicity studies and drug screening
Calcium imaging, or monitoring changes in intracellular calcium, is an extremely useful technique for investigating the variety of roles that calcium ions have in functioning neurons.…
Application Note
Assessment of neurotoxicity and neuronal development using induced pluripotent stem cell-based neurite outgrowth assay
Assessment of neurotoxicity and neuronal development using induced pluripotent stem cell-based neurite outgrowth assay
Growing concerns about the increased prevalence of untested chemicals in the environment has created a pressing need to develop reliable and efficient screening tools to identify chemicals…
Scientific Poster
Phenotypic Assessment of Toxicity Using a Human Hepatocyte Co-Culture Model
Phenotypic Assessment of Toxicity Using a Human Hepatocyte Co-Culture Model
Development of predictive in vitro assays for early toxicity evaluation is extremely important for improving the drug development process and reducing drug attrition rates during clinical tr…
Application Note
Toxicity assays using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cells
Toxicity assays using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cells
Drug-induced organ toxicity is an important cause of pharmaceutical candidates failing to make it to market. Thus highly predictive assays for safety and efficacy testing are crucial for…
Application Note
Multi-parameter imaging assay for measuring toxicity in a tumor model
Multi-parameter imaging assay for measuring toxicity in a tumor model
There is an increasing interest in using three-dimensional (3D) spheroids for modeling cancer and tissue biology to accelerate translational research. The goal of this study was to develop…
Application Note
High-content 3D toxicity assay using iPSC-derived hepatocyte spheroids
High-content 3D toxicity assay using iPSC-derived hepatocyte spheroids
There is increasing interest in exploring the use of three-dimensional (3D) spheroids for modeling developmental and tissue biology with the goal of accelerating translational research in…
Application Note
High-content screening of neuronal toxicity using iPSC-derived human neurons
High-content screening of neuronal toxicity using iPSC-derived human neurons
The nervous system is sensitive to the toxic effects of many chemical compounds, environmental agents and certain naturally occurring substances. Neurotoxicity can cause temporary or…
Scientific Poster
Phenotypic Characterization of Compound Effects on iPSC-derived Cardiac & Liver Spheroids
Phenotypic Characterization of Compound Effects on iPSC-derived Cardiac & Liver Spheroids
Explore PDF & learn the use of fast kinetic fluorescence and 3D image analysis for Phenotypic characterization of compound effects on iPSC-derived Cardiac and Liver Spheroids.
Publications
Phenotypic Characterization of Toxic Compound Effects on Liver Spheroids Derived from iPSC Using Confocal Imaging and Three-Dimensional Image Analysis
Phenotypic Characterization of Toxic Compound Effects on Liver Spheroids Derived from iPSC Using Confocal Imaging and Three-Dimensional Image Analysis
Cell models are becoming more complex to better mimic the in vivo environment and provide greater predictivity for compound efficacy and toxicity. There is an increasing interest in explorin…
Publications
Neurite Outgrowth in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons as a High-Throughput Screen for Developmental Neurotoxicity or Neurotoxicity
Neurite Outgrowth in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neurons as a High-Throughput Screen for Developmental Neurotoxicity or Neurotoxicity
Due to the increasing prevalence of neurological disorders and the large number of untested compounds in the environment, there is a need to develop reliable and efficient screening tools to…
Publications
High-Content Assay Multiplexing for Toxicity Screening in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Hepatocytes
High-Content Assay Multiplexing for Toxicity Screening in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Hepatocytes
Cell-based high-content screening (HCS) assays have become an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional in vitro and in vivo testing in pharmaceutical drug development and toxicolog…
Videos & Webinars

Toxicity studies of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and neuronal spheroids