Microplate assays for spectrophotometric measurement of mitochondrial enzyme activity

Abstract

Spectrophotometric analysis of metabolic enzyme activity from homogenized tissues is a valuable method for investigating mitochondrial content and capacity. Enzyme activity is normally measured in single cuvette spectrophotometers, requiring a large sample volume and low throughput. Here, we describe microplate assays for high-throughput analysis of mitochondrial enzymes citrate synthase, β-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase, aconitase, and mitochondrial electron transport system (ETS) complexes I, II, III, and IV.