Measuring Enzyme Activity Using The Thermo Scientific NanoDrop 3300 Fluorospectrometer

By Sandra Götze M.Sc., Dr. Reinhard Saborowski, and David Schlesinger Ph.D.

Thermo Scientific™ NanoDrop™ instruments have become the gold standard for the quantification and analysis of nucleic acids and proteins; however, they are well suited to a variety of other applications. The NanoDrop 3300 Fluorospectrometer, in particular, is a very versatile instrument.

Fluorophores have become a ubiquitous and powerful tool for life science researchers. They may be used as reporter groups of fluorogenic substrates needed for the determination of enzyme activities. These substrates are nonfluorescent in their initial “structure” and only through enzymatic cleavage have their fluorescent properties become apparent. Thereby, they are very sensitive and suitable to detect even very low enzyme activities. If fluorogenic substrates are designed for very specific research purpose, they are often very expensive or limited in quantity.