A Novel Assay for Cardiolipin Quantification in Isolated Mitochondria and Cell Lysates

Cardiolipin is a phospholipid present in the inner mitochondrial membrane. It plays an essential role in regulating the enzymes involved in mitochondrial respiration and processes such as biogenesis, fission, fusion, protein transport and apoptosis. Diabetes, heart failure and aging are linked to changes in levels of cardiolipin. Exposure to toxicants like cigarette smoke and organophosphates causes an alteration in cardiolipin levels and composition, and adversely affect health. Cardiolipin abnormalities are associated with various diseases such as Barth's syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting the gene responsible for cardiolipin synthesis that can lead to cardiomyopathy, underdeveloped muscles and growth delay. Since cardiolipin is crucial to mitochondrial functions there is increasing interest in assays for determining levels of cardiolipin in biological samples. Until now, cardiolipin has been detected using mass spectrometry which requires very sophisticated instrumentation and expertise in the technique. BioVision's Cardiolipin Quantification Assay is a simple, straight‐forward and versatile plate‐based fluorometric assay that uses a proprietary probe. Our assay is highly specific for cardiolipin and no cross‐reactivity is observed with other lipids such as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine and sphingomyelin. The kit can detect as low as 0.2 nmol of cardiolipin in isolated mitochondria as well as cell lysates.