EpiQuik Global Tri-Methyl Histone H4K20 Quantification Kit (Fluorometric)

The EpiQuik™ Global Tri-Methyl Histone H4-K20 Quantification Kit (Fluorometric) is a convenient package of tools that allows the experimenter to specifically measure global tri-methylation of H4-K20 fluorometrically, using a variety of mammalian cells (human, mouse, etc.), including fresh and frozen tissues, and cultured adherent and suspension cells. The kit has the following advantages:

• Quick and efficient procedure, which can be finished within 2.5 hours.
• Innovative fluorometric assay without the need for radioactivity, electrophoresis, or chromatography.
• Specifically captures tri-methylated H4-K20 with the detection limit as low as 1 ng/well and detection range from 10 ng to 2 µg/well of histone extracts.
• The control is conveniently included for the quantification of tri-methylated H4-K20.
• Strip microplate format makes the assay flexible: manual or high throughput.
• Simple, reliable, and consistent assay conditions.

Background Information
Epigenetic activation or inactivation of genes plays a critical role in many important human diseases, especially in cancer. A major mechanism for epigenetic inactivation of the genes is methylation of CpG islands in genome DNA caused by DNA methyltransferases. Histone methyltransferases (HMTs) control or regulate DNA methylation through chromatin-dependent transcriptional repression or activation. HMTs transfer 1-3 methyl groups from S-adenosyl-Lmethionine to the lysine and arginine residues of histone proteins. PR-SET7, SET9, SUV4.20h, and ASH1are histone methyltransferases that catalyze methylation of histone H4 at lysine 20 (H4-K20) in mammalian cells. Tri-methylation of H4-K20 has been described as another repressive chromatin domains and is involved in DNA damage response. The global H4-K20 tri-methylation can also be changed by inhibiton or activation of HMTs. Therefore, quantitative detection of global tri-methyl histone H4-K20 would provide useful information for better understanding epigenetic regulation of gene activation/repression and for developing HMT-targeted drugs. The EpiQuik™ Global Tri-Methyl Histone H4-K20 Quantification Kit (Fluorometric) provides a tool for measuring global tri-methylation of histone H4-K20.

Principle & Procedure
This kit is designed for measuring global histone H4-K20 tri-methylation. In an assay with this kit, the tri-methylated histone H4 at lysine 20 is captured to strip wells coated with an anti-trimethyl H4-K20 antibody. The captured tri-methylated histone H4-K20 can then be detected with a detection antibody, followed by a fluorescent development reagent. The ratio of tri-methylated H4-K20 is proportional to the intensity of fluorescence. The absolute amount of tri-methylated H4-K20 can be quantitated by comparing to the standard control.

Starting Materials
Input material should be purified histone extracts. In general, the input amount should be from 50 ng to 200 ng per well of histone extracts.