Patent ID: 6653076
Filing Date: 2003-11-25
Classification: C12Q,G01N

Abstract:
A method for determining the rate of biopolymer synthesis in a live population of cells, wherein the biopolymer comprises aplurality of one or more monomer subunits, comprising;admixing a plurality of different monomer subunits with the live population of cells under conditions conducive to synthesis of the biopolymer, wherein at least one monomer subunit comprises a stable isotope probe and wherein the monomer subunit is not synthesized or formed endogenously by the population of cells; incubating the population of cells and the monomer subunits for a time sufficient for at least two monomer subunits to incorporate into the biopolymer; isolating at a first time point a first sample of the biopolymer from the population of cells; isolating at a second time point a second sample of the biopolymer from the or population of cells; determining the abundance of monoisotopic and isotopomeric peaks for the first and second samples of the biopolymer from the population of cells; calculating the difference between the abundance of monoisotopic and isotopomeric peaks determined for the first and second samples; and dividing the calculated difference in the abundance of monoisotopic and isotopomeric peaks for the biopolymer by the time interval between the first and second time points to determine the rate of synthesis of the biopolymer in the live population of cells.