The quantitation of long-chain acyl-CoA in mammalian tissue

Intracellular long-chain acyl-CoA esters are key metabolites in lipid metabolism. A rapid procedure was developed for the isolation of long-chain acyl-CoA from mammalian tissues. Acyl-CoA was extracted from the tissue with chloroform/methanol and separated from other lipid-containing metabolites by phase partition with solvents. The content and the molecular species of acyl-CoA were determined by gas-liquid chromatography. In rat liver and hamster heart, the total acyl-CoA content was estimated to be 83 +/- 11 and 61 +/- 9 nmol/g wet weight, respectively. The results obtained are comparable to those reported in previous studies. The relative ease of this procedure would permit the determination of acyl-CoA contents in a large number of samples.