Measurements of ATP in mammalian cells

Levels of phosphorylated adenosine nucleotides, including the universal energy carrier adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) and its metabolites adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine 5-monophosphate (AMP), define the energy state in living cells and are dependent mainly on mitochondrial function. In this article, we describe a method based on the luciferase-luciferin system used to measure mitochondrial ATP synthesis continuously in permeabilized mammalian cells and mitochondria isolated from animal tissues. We also describe a technique that uses the expression of recombinant targeted luciferase to report ATP content in different cell compartments. Finally, we describe an HPLC-based method for accurate measurement of ATP, ADP, and AMP in cultured cells and animal tissues. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.