Amino acid analysis is a technique that has become commonplace in
biotechnology, biomedical, and food analysis laboratories. This book
describes a variety of amino acid analysis techniques and how each
technique can be used to answer specific biological questions. The first
two chapters in Amino Acid Analysis Protocols introduce the concepts,
basic theory, and practice of amino acid analysis. The following
chapters give detailed instructions on various methods and their
applications. As highlighted, there are many different approaches to
amino acid ana- sis, but in all cases the results depend heavily on the
quality of the sample. Therefore a new way to desalt samples prior to
hydrolysis is covered as an introductory chapter (Chapter 3), and most
authors have devoted a section to sample preparation, especially to the
collection and storage of bodily fluids. Some of the amino acid analysis
methods described in this book are based on HPLC separation and analysis
after precolumn derivatization. The precolumn derivatization techniques
described use (a) 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydro- succinimidyl carbamate (AQC)
(Chapters 4 and 8); (b) 1-fluoro-2- dinitrophenyl-5-L-alanine amide
(Marfey's reagent), which allows sepa- tion and analysis of enantiomeric
amino acids (Chapter 5); (c) O-phthalal- hyde (OPA) (Chapters 6 and 10);
(d) butylisothiocyanate (BITC) and benzylisothiocyante (BZITC) (Chapter
11); (e) phenylisothiocyanate (PITC) (Chapters 12 and 13); (f)
ammonium-7-fluorobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-4-s- fonate (SBD-F) (Chapter
17); and (g) 9-fluorenylmethyl-chloroformate (FMOC-Cl) (Chapter 10).
