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Profile Cellular Stress & Toxicity

Environmental changes including exogenous stressors such as chemical toxicants, xenobiotics, heat, and ionizing radiation affect the human body through a number of specific adaptive stress response pathways. Profiling these pathways is important for public health as it allows us to determine the toxic and carcinogenic potential of environmental compounds. Furthermore, with toxicity being one of the primary reasons potential drug candidates fail during development, screening lead compounds against these pathways is an essential part of the drug discovery process.

The LightSwitch™ reporter assay system allows for rapid and cost-effective toxicological evaluation and characterization of compounds in both the pharmaceutical and environmental arenas.

Examine the HIF-1α Pathway
HIF-1alpha Certain chemical toxicants such as metals can deplete oxygen availability in cells, and cause hypoxia. The LightSwitch™ Hypoxia Pathway Collection allows the screening of compounds against the HIF-1α pathway, including the hypoxia biomarker set of endogenous human promoter vectors, the HIF-1α synthetic response element, and the hypoxia stable cell line.

Elucidate Genotoxic potential
DNA Damage / Apoptosis Due to the severity of DNA damage to the cell, it is of great public health interest to determine the potential of anthropogenic chemicals and other compounds found in the environment to cause DNA damage as likely toxicants, carcinogens and teratogens. The LightSwitch™ DNA Damage Pathway Collection allows for fast and cost-effective screening of the genotoxic potential of your compound of interest.

Measure Xenobiotic and Dioxin response
LightSwitch™ Synthetic Response Elements Identify xenobiotics with the potential to increase the expression of drug-metabolizing and disposition genes under regulatory control of the PXR, AhR, or CAR nuclear receptors (NR) by monitoring the induction of:

Monitor Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs)
LightSwitch™ Mimics & Inhibitors Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with the hormone system, causing cancer and developmental disorders. The LightSwitch™ Hormone NR Pathway Collection allows monitoring of the steroid receptors, such as the estrogen (ER) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptors, which are the sensors that monitor and respond to changes in circulating steroid hormone levels to maintain body homeostasis.