Aspartate Colorimetric/Fluorometric Assay Kit

L-Aspartic acid (Asp) is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids as building block for protein. Although a non-essential amino acid in mammals, it is a precursor to several other amino acids including four essential amino acids (Met, Thr, Ile and Lys). Aspartate is a metabolite in the urea cycle, participates in gluconeogenesis and transports reducing equivalents between the cytosol and the mitochondria via the malate-aspartate shuttle. Aspartate also stimulates NMDA receptors (not as strongly as glutamate) and hence serves as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is an excitotoxin. BioVision’s Aspartate Assay Kit provides a simple, convenient assay to measure aspartate in a variety of samples. In the assay, aspartate is converted to pyruvate which is oxidized with the conversion of a probe into a highly colored (570 nm) and fluorescent (Ex/Em 535/587 nm) species proportional to the amount of aspartate in samples. Aspartate can be quantified in the range between 0.1–10 nmoles/well (2-200 µM).