5-mC Urine Quantification Kits
Nucleobase 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) is a modified form of cytosine converted by cytosine methyltransferases. 5-mC methylation of DNA is widely recognized as a major epigenetic modification.
5-mC in Urine
The urinary excretion of 5-mC, including both 5-methyl-2-deoxycytidine and 5-methylcytidine, is an indication of whole body turnover or degradation of methylated DNA and RNA. Urinary 5-mC levels can be altered by a change of the bodies’ turnover of methylated DNA/RNA or alteration of cellular DNA/RNA methylation status. Studies have indicated that urinary 5-mC excretion is effected by Alzheimer’s disease and radiation treatment and that 5-mC excreted in urine has the potential to act as a cancer biomarker, with an increased level arising from disease onset and progression. Therefore, it has been suggested that urinary 5-mC may be applicable as a biological marker for detecting some types of cancer and monitoring cancer progression after treatment with radiation or demethylation reagents.
Detecting 5-mC in Urine
Traditionally, chromatography-based techniques such as HPLC and TLC mass spectrometry have been used for detecting 5-mC in urine. These techniques have proven to be fairly accurate but time consuming and have low throughput with high costs.
Cambridge Bioscience offers the MethylFlash™ urine 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) quantification kit from Epigentek for the quantification of 5-mC in urine utilising an inhibitory competitive immunoassay method. This kit is ideal for detecting total urinary 5-methylcytosine levels, resulting from whole body turnover or degradation of methylated DNA/RNA in urine from humans and animals.
Benefits of using the MethylFlash™ Urine 5-mC Quantification Kits
• High sensitivity - level of 5-mC measured in human urine samples is comparable to that detected by HPLC
• Very low detection limit - 0.03 ng/assay well (colourimetric) 0.01 ng/assay well (fluorometric)
• High specificity - no cross-reactivity to unmethylated cytosine
• Suitable for analysing human or animal urine
• Suitable for analysing fresh or frozen urine
• Flexible strip-well microplate format for manual or high throughput analysis
• Simple & efficient protocol
• Fast - entire procedure can be finished within 4 hours
Colourimetric & Fluorometric Formats
The MethylFlash™ urine 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) quantification kits are available in both colourimetric and fluorometric formats containing all the reagents needed for the quantification of 5-mC in urine including optimized buffers, reagents, negative controls and positive standards. The negative control and positive standard included are suitable for the quantification of free form 5-mC and 5-mC contained in methylated DNA/RNA fragments from different urine samples.
We also offer an assay for quantifying 5-methyl-2-deoxycytidine levels in urine to find out more Visit Here.
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