Recombinant human estrogen, androgen and progesterone receptors for detection of potential endocrine disruptors.

This work reports the binding capacity of various chemicals (so-called endocrine disruptors) to recombinant human steroid receptors (hERalpha, hPR and hAR). The tested chemicals are organochlorine insecticides (DDT and its metabolites, methoxychlor, aldrin, dieldrin, chlordecone, lindane, trichlorobenzene), estrogenic insecticides (endosulfan, toxaphene, nonachlor), herbicides (alachlor and atrazine), fungicides (benomyl and vinclozolin), industrial chemicals (nonylphenol, bisphenol A, diphenylphtalate), antioxidants (butylated hydroxyanisol) and some phytoestrogens. Except for phytoestrogens, most of the tested chemicals (DDT and its metabolites, aldrin, alpha- and beta-endosulfan, toxaphen, trans-nonachlor) show higher affinities for hPR than for hERalpha, indicating that the interaction with the progesterone receptor could contribute to the endocrine-disrupting effects imputed to these chemicals. We propose to use binding assays using recombinant human steroid receptors as screening tools for the detection of endocrine disruptors in various samples.