Patent ID: 7097968
Filing Date: 2006-08-29
Classification: C12Q,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for assaying homocysteine (Hcy) in a sample, which method comprises: a) contacting a sample containing or suspected of containing Hcy with a Hcy co-substrate and a Hcy converting enzyme in a Hcy conversion reaction to form a Hcy conversion product and a Hcy co-substrate conversion product, wherein the Hcy co-substrate is S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), the Hcy converting enzyme is a S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent homocysteine S-methyltransferase, the Hcy conversion product is methionine (Met) and the Hcy co-substrate conversion product is S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH); b) contacting the SAH generated in step (a) with a SAH hydrolase to generate Hcy, which is cycled into the Hcy conversion reaction by the SAM-dependent homocysteine S-methyltransferase to form a Hcy co-substrate based enzyme cycling reaction system, and adenosine (Ado), which is assessed to determine the presence, absence and/or amount of the Hcy in the sample.