A spectrophotometric method for determination of fluorophore-to-protein ratios in conjugates of the blue fluorophore 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetic acid (AMCA)

M. W. Wessendorf, S. J. Tallaksen-Greene, R. M. Wohlhueter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

7-Amino-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetic acid (AMCA) has been found to be a useful fluorophore for immunofluorescence. The present study describes a spectrophotometric method for determining the ratio of moles AMCA to moles protein (or the f/p ratio) in an AMCA-conjugated IgG. The concentration of a substance absorbing light can be determined spectrophotometrically using Beer's Law: Absorbance = Concentration x Extinction coefficient. From Beer's law, one can derive the following formula for determining the f/p ratio of AMCA-IgG conjugates: f/p = ((ε350(AMCA)) · A280 - (ε280(AMCA)) · A350) ((̇280(IgG)) · A350 - (̇350(IgG)) · A280) where A is the optical density of the conjugate at the given wavelength and ε is the extinction coefficient of a substance at the wavelength specified. Using conjugates of model proteins, it was found that the extinction coefficients of the AMCA moiety of AMCA-conjugated protein were 1.90 x 104 at 350 nm and 8.29 x 103 at 280 nm. Similarly, it was found that the extinction coefficients of swine IgG were 1.56 x 103 at 350 nm and 1.26 x 105 at 280 nm. Thus, for AMCA-conjugated swine IgG: f/p = ((1.90 x 104) · A280 - (8.29 x 103) · A350) ((1.26 x 105) · A350 - (1.56 x 103) · A280). Based on this formula, the f/p ratios of some AMCA-IgG conjugates useful for immunohistochemistry have been found to range between 6 and 24.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)87-94
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry
Volume38
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1990

Keywords

  • AMCA
  • aminomethylcoumarin acetic acid
  • f/p ratio
  • immunocytochemistry
  • immunofluorescence

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A spectrophotometric method for determination of fluorophore-to-protein ratios in conjugates of the blue fluorophore 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetic acid (AMCA)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this