MycoCheck™ Mycoplasma Luminescent Detection Kit

Mycoplasma infections are relatively common in laboratory cell cultures; it has been estimated that between 5% and 35% of all cell cultures are infected. Mycoplasma are the smallest and simplest prokaryotes. Mycoplasma depend on their hosts for many nutrients due to their limited biosynthetic capabilities. Mycoplasma have been shown to alter the growth rate of cells in culture, induce chromosomal aberrations, influence amino acid and nucleic acid metabolism and cause membrane aberrations.

The MycoCheck™ Mycoplasma Luminescent Detection Kit allows for quick and reliable screening of cell cultures for contamination with mycoplasmas. The assay utilizes the activity of mycoplasma-specific enzymes and detects through the luminescence reaction catalyzed by ATP-dependent luciferase. The entire detection process has only two steps and only takes about 15 minutes. The first step is to add mycoplasma detection reagent A to the sample and perform the test after 5 minutes. The reading value is A. The second step is to add mycoplasma detection reagent B and perform the test after 10 minutes. The reading value is B. If the sample is contaminated by mycoplasma, its unique enzyme can convert the ADP into ATP. By measuring the level of ATP in a sample both before and after the addition of the mycoplasma detection reagent B, a ratio can be obtained which is indicative of the presence or absence of mycoplasma.

Figure 1. The principle of MycoCheck™ Mycoplasma Luminescent Detection Kit