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| - | {{Template:Team:Freiburg2}}
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| - | <html>
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| - | <div style="float:right">
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| - | <iframe width="560" height="315" style="margin:3em;margin-bottom:0;"
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| - | src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ya5XCTIX0LI"
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| - | frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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| - | <div style="text-align:center;margin-top:0;">video about endocrine disruption</div>
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| - | </div>
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| - | <h2>Overview</h2>
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| - | Our general aim is to establish a simple synthetic organisim which will
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| - | be capable to measure the influence of endocrine disruptors on the
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| - | natural balance of sexual determination in all kind of vertebrates. The
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| - | measurement itself will be cost-efficient, environment-friendly and
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| - | sensitive.
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| - | Naturally occuring iron receptors of the PAQR family are found to
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| - | repress the fet3 promotor on high level of extra-cellular iron.
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| - | According to Smith et al. human mPR expressed in yeast induced the same
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| - | signal when binding to progesterone. Relying on this results we will
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| - | express various mPRs of Danio rerio and Xenopus laevis in yeast to
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| - | measure endocrine substances that influence fish and amphibians.
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| - | We will transform the negative signal (fet3 repression) into a positive
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| - | signal by regulating a repressor (rox1 or mig1) with Pfet3. This
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| - | repressor will in turn regulate the expression of the reporter gene
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| - | (firefly luciferase or beta-galactosidase) and allow quantitative
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| - | measurement.
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| - | <h2>Motivation</h2>
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| - | <p><i>Why do we want to establish a mechanism for steroid measurement?</i></p>
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| - | Steroid hormones, especially estrogens, occur in all vertebrates and
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| - | play a crucial role in sexual differentiation. In recent times the
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| - | pollution of waters with these hormones has become an increasing problem
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| - | for the aquatic fauna.
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| - | Particularly waters functionalized by humans or adjacent to human
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| - | settlements, e.g. in areas with agricultural use, show increased
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| - | concentrations of estrogen.
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| - | Scientific studies based on ''Danio rerio'' showed that the consequences
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| - | are devastating.
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| - | High concentrations of 17α-ethinylestradiol, a hormone in most
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| - | birth-control pills, affected the sex differentiation of ''Danio rerio''
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| - | leading to development of ovotestis or complete feminization (Andersenc,
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| - | 2002).
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| - | Intersex-fish have been reported in UK rivers since 1978 downstream of
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| - | an sewage treatment plant.
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| - | We believe that a first step in finding a solution to this environmental
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| - | problem is an accurate and reliable method to quantify steroid
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| - | concentrations.
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| - | </html>
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