Lipids are a diverse group of molecules that include monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, fats, sterols, and others. Not only do lipids define and preserve cellular membrane integrity, but they are also involved in cellular processes such as membrane trafficking, signal transduction, apoptosis, and energy storage. Perturbation in the metabolism of lipids has been linked to many diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and coronary heart disease. In order to study lipids, they must often be extracted first from tissues or cellular cultures and then quantified. Some methods for lipid quantification have been described that are quite sensitive, however they require expensive equipment such as an HPLC machine, light scattering detection technology, or a latroscan TLC-FID analyzer.

ab242307 specifically measures the neutral lipid content of samples using a lipid binding molecule that fluoresces brightly only when bound to lipids, resulting in a simple fluorescence readout. First, a crude or purified lipid source is applied to a 96-well plate. Then organic solvents are removed, followed by the addition of the fluorescent reagent. Lipid binding to the fluorescent reagent results in an increase in fluorescence that is easily detected on a microplate reader. This kit has a detection sensitivity of 3.9 mg/dL and is at least 10 times more sensitive than the Vanillin method. Each kit provides sufficient reagents to perform 100 assays including standards and unknown samples.