Description
Introduction: Osteocalcin is a noncollagenous protein found in bone and dentin. It is secreted by osteoblasts and thought to play a role in mineralization and calcium ion homeostasis. It has been stipulated that osteocalcin may also function as a negative regulator of bone formation, although its exact role is unknown. As osteocalcin is manufactured by osteoblasts, it is often used as a biochemical marker, or biomarker, for the bone formation process. It has been routinely observed that higher serum-osteocalcin levels are relatively well correlated with increases in bone mineral density (BMD) during treatment with anabolic bone formation drugs for osteoporosis, such as Forteo. In many studies, Osteocalcin is used as a preliminary biomarker on the effectiveness of a given drug on bone formation.
Principle of the Assay: The microtiter plate provided in this kit has been pre-coated with an antibody specific to OT. Standards or samples are then added to the appropriate microtiter plate wells with a biotin-conjugated 2 antibody preparation specific for OT and Avidin conjugated to Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) is added to each microplate well and incubated. Then a TMB (3,3',5,5' tetramethyl-benzidine) substrate solution is added to each well. Only those wells that contain OT, biotin-conjugated antibody and enzyme-conjugated Avidin will exhibit a change in color. The enzyme-substrate reaction is terminated by the addition of a sulphuric acid solution and the color change is measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 450 nm +/- 2 nm. The concentration of OT in the samples is then determined by comparing the O.D. of the samples to the standard curve