Performance of measuring estrogenicity with planar-YES compared to 96-well plate YES

Abstract

The yeast estrogen screen (YES) performed directly on high performance thin-layer chromatography plates (planar-YES) is a promising tool for screening and effect-directed analysis (EDA) of (xeno)estrogens, and it has recently experienced several improvements. The planar-YES eliminates the need for carrier solvents, and can be performed immediately after chromatographic separation. However, there has been no direct comparison of the planar-YES to a 96-well plate version of the YES To fill this gap, we tested several chemicals in the planar-YES and a 96 well plate YES (lyticase-YES, L-YES). We demonstrate that the detection limit for the reference substance (17β-estradiol) in the planar-YES is an order of magnitude lower than in the L-YES. For both assays, we present the bioactivity of 20 chemicals chosen for their relationship to food packaging materials. Fourteen of the 20 chemicals gave positive responses. The bioassays may be susceptible to losing test substances when the extract is transferred into the assay, e.g. through evaporation in the planar-YES or sorption to the test chambers in the L-YES. Therefore, we explore the bioactivity of the 20 chemicals with respect to their physico-chemical properties. This work helps us understand the advantages and limitations of both assays for estrogen screening and EDA