Cultured keratinocytes in in vitro dermatotoxicological investigation: a review.

The keratinocyte is responsible for the architecture of the epidermis, that portion of the skin that forms the environmental barrier necessary for survival. It also interacts with other cell types in the epidermis in response to various environmental influences. This cell type is used frequently for in vitro cutaneous toxicological investigations as an alternative to whole-animal studies. Several areas of cutaneous research using cultured keratinocytes are germane as regards the scope of this journal. The following areas of biomedical research were reviewed: (1) dermatotoxicology, including environmental chemicals, antiseptics, drugs, metals, and pesticides; (2) immunotoxicology, including inflammation and allergic dermatitis; (3) radiation, including ultraviolet and x-irradiation; and (4) the development of assays as alternatives to whole-animal testing. Due to the abundance of such investigations reported in the last 30 years, this review is limited mainly to reviewing reports published in this decade.