The novel genistein (G) derivative, 6-carboxymethyl genistein (CG) was evaluated for its biological properties in comparison with G. Both compounds showed oestrogenic activity in vitro and in vivo. On the other hand G and CG differed in the following parameters: (i) only CG displayed mixed agonist-antagonist activity for oestrogen receptor (ER) in transactivation assays and (ii) only CG was capable of attenuating oestrogen (E 2 )-induced proliferation in vascular smooth muscle cells and of inhibiting oestrogen-induced creatine kinase (CK) specific activity in rat tissues. On the other hand only G enhanced the stimulatory effect on CK specific activity in the uterus. In comparison to the selective oestrogen receptor modulator (SERM) raloxifene (RAL), CG showed the same selectivity profile as RAL in blocking the CK response to E 2 in tissues derived from both immature and ovariectomized female rats. Molecular modelling of CG bound to the ligand binding domain (LBD) of ER predicts that the 6-carboxymethyl group of CG almost fits the binding cavity. On the other hand, molecular modelling of CG bound to the LBD of ER suggests that the carboxyl group of CG may perturb the end of Helix 11, eliciting a severe backbone change for Leu 525, and consequently induces a conformational change which could position Helix 12 in an antagonist conformation. This model supports the experimental findings that CG can act as a mixed agonist-antagonist when E 2 is bound to its receptors. Collectively, our findings suggest that CG can be considered a novel SERM with unique effects on the vasculature, bone and uterus.

To date, many of the current criteria for diagnosis of somatotropin (growth hormone, GH) deficiency have been based upon measurement of this hormone by competitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) with use of polyclonal antibodies. In recent years, however, the development of hybridoma technology has led to the generation of various monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) to GH with different affinities and epitope specificities. Subsequently, these reagents have been used in the development of noncompetitive two-site immunometric assays (e.g., immunoradiometric assay; IRMA). In general, the values obtained for serum GH by IRMA have been lower than those obtained by RIA, because of the epitope-specificity profile of the Mabs in the IRMA. Attempting to obtain GH values numerically similar to those by RIA, we used a combination of Mabs to GH in developing and evaluating a two-site time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (IFMA) based on the streptavidin-biotin interaction. Fluorescence is proportional to concentration of analyte and is linearly related to concentration over the range 0.3 to 40 micrograms/L. The assay was satisfactory with respect to sensitivity, accuracy, and precision (CV less than 10% over the entire working range). In addition, the concentration of GH was determined by the IFMA and a competitive RIA in serum obtained from GH deficient and acromegalic patients. The pairing of antibodies in the IFMA gave numerical values that agreed well with those by RIA (r = 0.97; n = 100).