Description
Principle of the Assay: The Human COMT ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) kit is an in vitro enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the quantitative measurement of Human COMT in Cell Culture Supernates, Serum, Plasma. This assay employs an antibody specific for Human COMT coated on a 96-well plate. Standards and samples are pipetted into the wells and COMT present in a sample is bound to the wells by the immobilized antibody. The wells are washed and biotinylated anti-Human COMT antibody is added. After washing away unbound biotinylated antibody, HRP-conjugated streptavidin is pipetted to the wells. The wells are again washed, a TMB substrate solution is added to the wells and color develops in proportion to the amount of COMT bound. The Stop Solution changes the color from blue to yellow, and the intensity of the color is measured at 450 nm.
Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is one of several enzymes that degrade catecholamines such as dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. In humans, catechol-O-methyltransferase protein is encoded by the COMT gene. As the regulation of catecholamines is impaired in a number of medical conditions, several pharmaceutical drugs target COMT to alter its activity and therefore the availability of catecholamines. In the brain, COMT-dependent dopamine degradation is of particular importance in brain regions with low expression of the presynaptic dopamine transporter (DAT), such as the prefrontal cortex. This process is supposed to take place in postsynaptic neurons, as, in general, COMT is located intracellularly in the central nervous system (CNS)