The EpiQuik™ Global Acetyl Histone H4-K8 Quantification Kit (Fluorometric) is a convenient package of tools that allows the experimenter to measure global acetylation of histone H4-K8 fluorometrically, using a variety of mammalian cells (human, mouse, etc.) including fresh and frozen tissues, and cultured adherent and suspension cells. The kit has the following advantages:
Background InformationEpigenetic activation or inactivation of genes play a critical role in many important human diseases, especially in cancer. A major mechanism for epigenetic inactivation of the genes is methylation of CpG islands in genome DNA caused by DNA methyltransferases. Histone methyltransferases (HMTs) control or regulate DNA methylation through chromatin-dependent transcription repression or activation. HMTs transfer 1-3 methyl groups from S-adenosyl-Lmethionine to the lysine and arginine residues of histone proteins. SET1, SET7/9, Ash1, ALL-1, MLL, ALR, Trx, and SMYD3 are histone methyltransferases that catalyze methylation of histone H3 at lysine 4 (H3-K4) in mammalian cells. H3-K4 di-methylation is associated with transcriptionally permissive euchromatin regions in the genome and may serve as a global epigenetic mark in euchromatin and mediates activated transcription. Increased global H3-K4 di-methylation is also found to be involved in some pathological processes such as cancer progression. The global H3- K4 di-methylation can also be changed by inhibition or activation of HMTs. Thus, quantitative detection of global di-methyl histone H3-K4 would provide useful information for better understanding epigenetic regulation of gene activation, and for developing HMT-targeted drugs. The EpiQuik™ Global Di-Methyl Histone H3-K4 Quantification Kit (Colorimetric) provides a tool for measuring global di-methylation of histone H3-K4.
Principle & ProcedureThis kit is designed for measuring global histone H4-K8 acetylation. In an assay with this kit, the acetyl histone H4 at lysine 8 is captured to the strip wells coated with an anti-acetyl H4-K8 antibody. The captured acetyl histone H4-K8 can then be detected with a labeled detection antibody, followed by a fluorescent development reagent. The ratio of acetyl H4-K8 is proportional to the intensity of fluorescence. The absolute amount of acetyl H4-K8 can be quantified by comparing to the standard control.
Starting MaterialsInput material should be purified histone extracts. In general, the input amount should be from 50 ng to 200 ng per well of histone extracts.