title: Screening of endocrine disrupting chemicals using a surface plasmon resonance sensor.
abstract: Because concern over endocrine disrupting reactions caused by chemicals to humans and animals is growing, a rapid and reliable screening assay for endocrine disrupting chemicals is required. We have developed an in vitro screening assay based on a hormone receptor mechanism using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor. The interaction between an estrogen receptor alpha (ER) and an estrogen response element (ERE) is monitored in real time, when ER is injected over the SPR sensor chip on which a DNA fragment containing ERE is immobilized. In the presence of a chemical with estrogenic activity, the ER-ERE interaction is enhanced and the kinetic parameters are altered. We have validated the assay in terms of its specificity, dose dependency, optimal reaction conditions and reproducibility. It has been shown that the assay is very reliable as a rapid and quantitative screening method to judge the estrogenic activities of chemicals.
authors.affiliation: New Business Development, Biacore K.K., Koyo Bldg. 5F, 2-9-5 Shiba Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunobu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Setsuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanno