EDANS (5-((2-Aminoethyl)amino)naphthalene-1-sulfonic acid) is a donor for
FRET
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instru ...
-based nucleic acid probes and
protease
A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the form ...
substrates. EDANS is often paired with DABCYL or DABSYL. The combination can be used in
enzyme assay
Enzyme assays are laboratory methods for measuring enzymatic activity. They are vital for the study of enzyme kinetics and enzyme inhibition.
Enzyme units
The quantity or concentration of an enzyme can be expressed in molar amounts, as with ...
s. When the two compounds are in close proximity, most of the energy emitted from EDANS will be quenched by DABCYL. However, if the compounds are separated (for example, by substrate cleavage) EDANS will
fluoresce
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...
, giving an indication of enzyme presence.
See also
*
Dark quencher A dark quencher (also known as a dark sucker) is a substance that absorbs excitation energy from a fluorophore and dissipates the energy as ''heat''; while a typical (fluorescent) quencher re-emits much of this energy as ''light''. Dark quenchers ar ...
References
Fluorescent dyes
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