Marine invertebrate xenobiotic-activated nuclear receptors: their application as sensor elements in high-throughput bioassays for marine bioactive compounds.

ABSTRACT: Developing high-throughput assays to screen marine extracts for bioactive compounds presents both conceptual and technical challenges. One major challenge is to develop assays that have well-grounded ecological and evolutionary rationales. In this review we propose that a specific group of ligand-activated transcription factors are particularly well-suited to act as sensors in such bioassays. More specifically, xenobiotic-activated nuclear receptors (XANRs) regulate transcription of genes involved in xenobiotic detoxification. XANR ligand-binding domains (LBDs) may adaptively evolve to bind those bioactive, and potentially toxic, compounds to which organisms are normally exposed to through their specific diets. A brief overview of the function and taxonomic distribution of both vertebrate

SUBMITTER: Richter I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4245547 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature