title: Tyrosine hydroxylase assay: a bioassay for aryl hydrocarbon receptor-active compounds based on tyrosine hydroxylase promoter activation.
abstract: Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) assay is a novel bioassay for screening aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-active compounds with diverse toxicities. The TH assay employs reporter genes to evaluate TH promoter activity, which is linked to dopamine synthesis and regulated by the AhR-aryl hydrocarbon receptor responsive element-III (AHRE-III)-mediated pathway. The toxic equivalency factors for higher chlorinated dioxin congeners in the TH assay (TH-TEF) exhibit the same tendency as those for the WHO-TEF, indicating that the activity of the TH assay is consistent with that of existing methods. Furthermore, other chemicals, such as lower chlorinated dioxin congeners that were minimally investigated in the past could be detected preferentially by this assay.
authors.affiliation: Frontier Research Laboratory, Corporate Research and Development Center, Toshiba Corporation, Komukai-Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Akahoshi
authors.forename: Seiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: Saeko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uruno
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Mitsuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishihara-Sugano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D051379:Mice; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon / Q000378:metabolism*; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018336:Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase