1st INEXO Symposium: Alternative models in vitro, ex ovo and organisms: From research to applications in pathologies and aging

123 gation and subsequent differentiation into complex tissue-like structures with reproducible ratios of neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The generated neurons elicit spontaneous calcium transients and stimuli-induced neurotransmitter release. Whole-cell current-and-voltage clamp recordings show polarized neurons and voltage-dependent ion currents. Differentiated glial cells present astrocytic functions. Moreover, expression of genes involved in synaptic and ion transport machinery and the accumulation of neural proteoglycans suggests that this 3D differentiation strategy mimics the neural tissue microenvironment better than other differentiation methods. These models have applications as tools for preclinical assessment and in disease modelling. In the next session on reconstituted tissues and 3D bioprint-ing, Dr Christian Pellevoisin (Episkin Academy, Lyon, France) spoke about reconstructed skin, which is a powerful and highly versatile technology already used at all stages of cosmetic product development (toxicology, UV sensitivity, skin allergy, skin aging, skin microbiome, etc). The ability to reproduce several functions of human skin in vitro broadens the scope for industrial applications. He demonstrated that it is now possible to predict positive or negative effects of cosmetics early in their development process using in vitro skin models instead of animal testing. Reconstructed human skin is also used for screening and assessing the efficacy of new active ingredients, deciphering their mechanism of action, and optimizing the composition of formulations.