Acetyl Co-A Activity Assay Kit, 100T/96S

Acetyl coenzyme A (Acetyl Co-A) is a central metabolite in cellular metabolism, serving as a critical intermediate that links multiple key biochemical pathways—making its activity measurement essential for diverse research fields.

At the core of its biological role, Acetyl Co-A acts as a "carbon carrier," transferring acetyl groups to drive reactions that sustain cell function and energy production. It is a pivotal node connecting:

Carbohydrate metabolism: Generated during the final step of glycolysis (pyruvate oxidation), where pyruvate is converted to Acetyl Co-A before entering the Krebs cycle (citric acid cycle) to produce ATP, the cell’s primary energy currency.
Lipid metabolism: Serves as the starting material for de novo fatty acid synthesis (building fats for energy storage or cell membrane structure) and is a product of fatty acid β-oxidation (breaking down fats to release energy when carbohydrates are scarce).
Amino acid metabolism: Derived from the catabolism (breakdown) of certain amino acids (e.g., pyruvate-derived amino acids like alanine, or Krebs cycle intermediates like glutamate), and feeds into pathways for amino acid synthesis.
Secondary metabolite synthesis: Critical for producing molecules like cholesterol, steroid hormones (e.g., cortisol, estrogen), and neurotransmitters (e.g., acetylcholine), which regulate physiological processes ranging from cell signaling to organ function.
Given its widespread involvement, deviations in Acetyl Co-A activity are closely linked to pathological and physiological changes. For example:

In metabolic research, reduced Acetyl Co-A activity may indicate impairments in mitochondrial function (a hallmark of conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, or age-related metabolic decline), as mitochondria are the primary site of Acetyl Co-A utilization in the Krebs cycle.
In cancer research, cancer cells often rely on elevated Acetyl Co-A production to support rapid proliferation—measuring its activity helps study metabolic reprogramming, a key characteristic of tumor growth.
In neuroscience, Acetyl Co-A is a precursor for acetylcholine (a neurotransmitter involved in memory and muscle control); abnormal activity levels may correlate with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Traditional methods for measuring Acetyl Co-A activity (e.g., radioisotope labeling, HPLC-based separation) often suffer from limitations: radioisotope techniques require specialized safety protocols and disposal procedures, while HPLC methods are time-consuming, require expensive equipment, and have low throughput for large sample sets.

The Acetyl Co-A Activity Assay Kit (Cat.No: SCAK-YJL-0072) addresses these challenges by leveraging a micro-volume spectrophotometric/microplate reader-based approach. This method simplifies workflow, reduces hands-on time, and enables reliable, high-throughput measurement—making it accessible for labs of all sizes focused on metabolism, cancer, neuroscience, or cell biology research.