Rapid, portable detection of endocrine disrupting chemicals through ligand-nuclear hormone receptor interactions

Abstract

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) are structurally diverse compounds that can interact with nuclear hormone receptors, posing significant risk to human and ecological health. Unfortunately, many conventional biosensors have been too structure-specific, labor-intensive or laboratory-oriented to detect broad ranges of EDC effectively. Recently, several technological advances are providing more rapid, portable, and affordable detection of endocrine-disrupting activity through ligand-nuclear hormone receptor interactions. Here, we overview these recent advances applied to EDC biosensors – including cell lyophilization, cell immobilization, cell-free systems, smartphone-based signal detection, and improved competitive binding assays.