GSH-Glo™ Glutathione Assay

The GSH-Glo™ Assay is a luminescent-based assay for the detection and quantification of glutathione (GSH) in cells or in various biological samples. A change in GSH levels is important in the assessment of toxicological responses and is an indicator of oxidative stress, potentially leading to apoptosis or cell death. The assay is based on the conversion of a luciferin derivative into luciferin in the presence of GSH. The reaction is catalyzed by a glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzyme supplied in the kit. The luciferin formed is detected in a coupled reaction using Ultra-Glo™ Recombinant Luciferase that generates a glow type luminescence that is proportional to the amount of glutathione present in cells. The assay provides a simple, fast and sensitive alternative to colorimetric and fluorescent methods and can be adapted easily to high-throughput applications.

The simple two-reagent-addition assay minimizes the number of assay steps compared to conventional GSH assays and is adapted easily to higher throughput applications. No deproteination step is required, and results are achieved in as quickly as 30 minutes. 

The luminescent method avoids inherent background fluorescence associated with other methods thereby providing excellent signal-to-background ratios. A half-life greater than 5 hours results in a stable signal as well.