Human Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 alpha Reporter Assay System

This nuclear receptor assay utilizes proprietary human cells engineered to provide constitutive, high-level expression of the Human Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 alpha (NR2A1), a ligand-dependent transcription factor known as HNF4a.

In INDIGO’s Reporter Cells the HNF4a receptor is expressed as a hybrid protein in which its native DNA binding domain (DBD) sequence has been exchanged with that of the DBD sequence from the yeast Gal4 gene. Additionally, the cells include the luciferase reporter gene functionally linked to the Gal4 upstream activation sequence (UAS) and a minimal promoter. HNF4a undergoes nuclear translocation, DNA binding, recruitment and assembly of the co-activators and accessory factors required to form a functional transcription complex, culminating in expression of the reporter gene. Thus, quantifying changes in luciferase expression in the treated reporter cells provides a specific and sensitive surrogate measure of the changes in HNF4a activity. Unlike some other assay formats, the readout from INDIGO’s reporter cells demands the same orchestration of all intracellular molecular interactions and events that can be expected to occur in vivo.

As is true in vivo, the expressed hybrid HNF4a receptor displays a moderate level of constitutively activity. A true ligand interaction may provoke either i.) an agonist response that delivers an additional increase in receptor activity above its already high constitutive level of activity, or ii.) an inverse-agonist response in which a loss of receptor activity is observed. The principal application of this assay is in the screening of test compounds to quantify inverse-agonist or agonist activities that they may exert against the Human HNF4a receptor.

These HNF4a Reporter Cells are prepared using INDIGO’s proprietary CryoMite™ process. This cryo-preservation method yields high cell viability post-thaw, and provides the convenience of immediately dispensing healthy, division-competent reporter cells into assay plates. There is no need for cumbersome intermediate treatment steps such as spin-and-rinse of cells, viability determinations, or cell titer adjustments prior to assay setup. [INDIGO Catalog Nos. IB36001 | IB36002]

WARNING This product is not for human or veterinary use.