A highly sensitive, mixed-phase assay for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity in transfected cells.
We describe a simple, rapid yet extremely sensitive assay for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activity in extracts from transfected eukaryotic cells. Using our modified reaction conditions and the mixed-phase assay, less than 0.000010 unit of CAT activity in transfected cells can be reliably detected. The mixed-phase assay is based on the inability of the polar [3H]-acetyl-Coenzyme A (CoA) substrate to partition out of a urea containing aqueous phase into the nonpolar scintillation fluor, while the [3H]chloramphenicol reaction products partition into the toluene scintillation fluor and are quantitated by scintillation counting. The increased sensitivity of this assay is due to the optimization of the acetyl-CoA concentration, to a urea-containing aqueous phase which lowers the assay background, and to the use of extract blanks. The mixed-phase assay is simpler, is quantitative, uses less costly substrates, and is far more sensitive than the most widely used CAT assays, which require solvent extraction followed by thin-layer chromatography to separate the unreacted substrate from product.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801.
D A
DA
Nielsen
T C
TC
Chang
D J
DJ
Shapiro
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase / Q000032:analysis*; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D014162:Transfection; D014982:Xenopus laevis
D015500:Chloramphenicol O-Acetyltransferase