Rapid and sensitive screening of 17β-estradiol estrogenicity using Fourier transform infrared imaging spectroscopy (FT-IRIS).

It is important to develop rapid and sensitive screening assays to assess the biological effects of emerging contaminants. In this contribution, the ability to determine the molecular level effects of 17β-estradiol on single MCF-7 cells using Fourier transform infrared imaging spectroscopy (FT-IRIS) was investigated. The use of FT-IRIS enabled subcellular imaging of the cells and determination of a dose dependent response in mucin concentration at 24 and 48 h of incubation.

An interaction model for estimating in vitro estrogenic and androgenic activity of chemical mixtures.

There is a need to better understand and predict the biological activity and interaction of chemical constituents in mixtures. Many existing methods assume that the mixture components are additive, and in the case of endocrine disruption, deviation from additivity may occur and render predictions inconclusive. In this study, an alternate index, aRP, which enables the quantification of an antagonistic interaction from analytically derived concentrations of chemical constituents within a mixture that act upon the same molecular target is described.