Detection of Chloramphenicol Acetyl Transferase Activity in Transfected Cells: A Rapid and Sensitive HPLC-based Method

Abstract
An assay based on high-performance liquid chromotography (HPLC) has been developed for determining the expression of the acetyl coenzyme A: chloramphenicol 3-O-acetyltransferase gene in transfected cells. The assay is based on the separation of extracted, nonradioactive chloramphenicol and its acetylated derivatives by reverse-phase HPLC, using UV absorbance for detection. In addition to eliminating the need for costly [14C]chloramphenicol, this assay is as sensitive and much faster than the commonly used method involving thin-layer chromatography.