A simple homogeneous scintillation proximity assay for acyl-coenzyme A:diacylglycerol acyltransferase

Anal Biochem. 2008 Dec 15;383(2):144-50. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2008.09.013. Epub 2008 Sep 15.

Abstract

Acyl-coenzyme A:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) is a key enzyme in triacylglycerol synthesis, and inhibiting this enzyme is a promising approach for treating obesity, type II diabetes, and dyslipidemia. There are two distinct DGAT enzymes: DGAT1 and DGAT2. The conventional assay for measuring DGAT activity is a thin layer chromatography (TLC) method, which is not amenable to screening a large number of compounds. To increase the throughput, we have developed a novel, homogeneous scintillation proximity assay (SPA) for DGAT. In this assay, when (3)H-labeled acyl-CoA is used as the acyl donor and diacylglycerol is used as the acyl acceptor, the (3)H-labeled triacylglycerol product formed in the reaction binds to polylysine SPA beads, producing a signal that is measured in a TopCount or LEADseeker. The apparent Michaelis-Menten kinetic parameters determined by this DGAT SPA method agreed well with the values determined with the conventional TLC assay. The statistical values also indicate that the DGAT SPA is a robust assay, with a Z' of more than 0.60 and a signal/background ratio of approximately 9. These results suggest that the current assay provides high-throughput capacity for the identification of DGAT inhibitors.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase / analysis*
  • Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase / metabolism
  • Dimethyl Sulfoxide / metabolism
  • Enzymes, Immobilized / analysis
  • Enzymes, Immobilized / metabolism
  • Kinetics
  • Microspheres
  • Rats
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Scintillation Counting
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine / metabolism
  • Triglycerides / biosynthesis

Substances

  • Enzymes, Immobilized
  • Triglycerides
  • Serum Albumin, Bovine
  • Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase
  • Dimethyl Sulfoxide