Applicability of a keratinocyte gene signature to predict skin sensitizing potential

► Gene profiles of HaCaT keratinocyte cell lines can be used to identify sensitizers. ► The Nrf2-keap1 and TLR-signaling pathways are affected by sensitizers. ► A prediction accuracy of 96.2% was achieved, which is an improvement over the LLNA. ► 10 selected genes can identify sensitizers, which were confirmed in separate experiment. ► Compound selection is important for confirmation of alternative assays.