MR Bioassay for Environmental Sample Monitoring

The principal application of this Mineralocorticoid Receptor bioassay is to screen processed environmental samples, with the aim of quantifying the aggregate bioactivities, if any, of contaminating endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) entities. This assay utilizes proprietary mammalian cells expressing the native human Mineralocorticoid Receptor (MR; nr3c2), a ligand-dependent transcription factor. The cells also include the luciferase reporter gene functionally linked to a MR-responsive promoter. Thus, quantifying changes in luciferase expression in the treated reporter cells provides a sensitive surrogate measure of the changes in total MR activity.