GENETICALLY MODIFIED NON-HUMAN MAMMAL CELLS, PROCEDURE FOR THEIR PRODUCTION AND USE IN TOXICITY TESTS

摘要

The invention concerns cells that can be used in toxicity tests and which therefore secrete, in response to toxic stress and stimuli, products that can be monitored and quantified. According to the present invention genetically modified cells are produced via the introduction of a first exogenous gene codifying a marker that can be activated in response to a pre-established external stimulus and a second exogenous gene that confers immortalisation: the first is preferably the human gene of the Growth Hormone and the second is preferably the human gene codifying a truncated form of the receptor of the Hepatocytic Growth Factor (Met gene). These cells perform hepatic functions and secrete into the culture medium the human growth hormone (GH) only in the case of toxicity or stress induced by organic or inorganic chemical or biological compounds. The fact that the GH secreted by MMH/GH cells is proportional, over a set interval, to the damage caused by the above-mentioned agents, permits use of the cells in toxicity tests in vitro.