Invitrogen™ EnzChek™ Reverse Transcriptase Assay Kit

Description

• The EnzChek Reverse Transcriptase Assay Kit is a convenient, efficient, and inexpensive assay for measuring reverse transcriptase activity and screening reverse transcriptase inhibitors
• In less than an hour, samples can be read in a fluorometer or microplate reader with filter sets appropriate for fluorescein (FITC), GFP, or Alexa Fluor 488
• Features of the EnzChek Reverse Transcriptase Assay Kit include: • Detect as little as 0.02 units of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase • Large dynamic assay range, detect up to a 50-fold linear range • Simple to use assay, amenable for automated high-throughput screening applications The EnzChek Reverse Transcriptase Assay Kit uses the PicoGreen reagent, which preferentially detects dsDNA or RNA-DNA heteroduplexes over single-stranded nucleic acids or free nucleotides
• In this assay, the reverse transcriptase activity in a biological sample generates long RNA-DNA heteroduplexes from a mixture of a long poly(A) template, an oligo-dT primer, and dTTP
• The RNA-DNA heteroduplexes formed are then detected by the PicoGreen reagent
• Reverse transcriptase is an enzyme that functions as an RNA-dependent DNA-polymerase to synthesize DNA from an RNA template
• Retroviruses such as HIV use reverse transcriptase activity to make a DNA copy of their viral RNA to insert into a host cell genome
• Reverse transcriptase enzymes are also used in various cell functions, such as the enzyme telomerase, which maintains telomere length and chromosome stability and has a role in cancer and aging
• In molecular biology, reverse transcriptase function is utilized to generate complementary DNA (cDNA) libraries from mRNA and quantify mRNA expression through amplification in RT-PCR
• The EnzChek Reverse Transcriptase Assay Kit provides a simple method to determine reverse transcriptase activity that is useful in the study of retroviruses and screening reverse transcriptase inhibitors, which can function as therapeutic drugs to target retroviral diseases
• Because this method is faster and less expensive than standard isotopic assays or immunoassays, it is suitable for testing large numbers of biological samples, enabling automated high-throughput screening of reverse transcriptase inhibitors
• Order Info Shipping Condition: Room temperature