Photosensitive derivatives of ATP as assay control standards

摘要

There is disclosed the use of a photosensitive derivative of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for use in the bioluminescent assay of ATP. The derivative may be caged-ATP e.g. nitrophenol ester of ATP which contains a photohydrolysable ester bond. The sample which is being assayed for ATP is mixed with a reagent containing luciferin-luciferase and a known quantity of caged-ATP and the light emitted is measured. The mixture is then exposed to a flash of intense light resulting in the release of ATP in a photolytic reaction. This ATP reacts with the firefly luciferase to emit light, thus allowing the amount of the sample ATP to be deduced. The method overcomes problems with contaminated or unstable standard solutions of ATP.