Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) Fluorescent Activity Kit

Simple fluorescent readout. Results in less than 30 minutes. Sensitive detection. Note: Due to the lack of specificity of the AChE enzyme itself, the AChE Fluorescent Assay kit does exhibit cross-reactivity with butyryl activity because the AChE active site accepts a number of alkylcholine substrates. In order to isolate AChE activity, we recommend also using our BChE Fluorescent Assay Kit, K3016-1. The human BChE enzyme has less than 0.2% activity with acetylcholine versus butyrylcholine. The Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) Fluorescent Activity kit is a simple, sensitive and stable kit that measures AChE activity in a wide variety of samples. The kit contains everything needed to measure activity, including the microtiter plate. Diluted samples are added to the wells. The reaction is initiated by addition of a reaction mix containing the acetylthiocholine substrate and fluorescent detection agent. After a 20 minute incubation the signal is read at 510 nm with excitation at 370-410nm. The activity can also be read kinetically. Acetylcholinesterases appear critical to both development and function of the nervous system. Acetylcholine (ACh) is an essential neurotransmitter in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Impairment of cholinergic neurotransmission is well-established in Alzheimer's disease, but there is controversy about its relevance at the early stages of the disease as well as in mild cognitive impairment. In vivo positron emission tomography imaging of cortical AChE activity as a marker of cholinergic function that is expressed by cholinergic axons and neurons has demonstrated a reduction of this enzyme activity in manifest Alzheimer's patients. Other intentional or environmental methods of impairment are organophosphates and carbamates with anticholinergic properties which are used as insecticides worldwide or as warfare agents. Sample Types: Serum, EDTA and heparin plasma and RBC ghosts have been validated with this assay.